Red
by maraudersforever81
Summary: Lily Evans is determined to make her last year at Hogwarts the best one yet. Most of her strategy includes avoiding James Potter, whom she hates with all her being. But when they are the two Heads, she finds herself spending time with him-and enjoying it.
1. Prologue

AN: Thank you to my wonderful reviewers: Veronica Willis, Loslote, MayFairy, SiRiUs-PaDfOoT-bLaCk23451 and BlueSkies13 ! All of whom I recognized from my old story ^-^ Missed you all so much!

Red

Prologue

It would be an odd sight for anyone but a witch or wizard to see. Teens milling about in Kings Cross station, dragging along cats and owls in cages and frogs and whatnot. Most of them were holding wooden sticks, or had them in a pocket. Parents ushered them on quickly, clad in what looked like long nightgowns. It was quite the peculiar sight; and the children and their families were getting a few questioning glances. They didn't seem to mind at all.

One of these families was composed of a father, a mother, and two daughters. The father was quite tall, with balding blonde hair and a long nose. The mother was very small with auburn hair and brown eyes. She had thin lips, and short hair. One of the daughters was dressed in a little tank top and tight jeans she looked in her young twenty something. She had her father's hair color, but it was accentuated with bright blonde highlights. She had brown eyes, just like her mother, that were surrounded with eyeliner and mascara. The youngest, about 16 or 17, had flaming red hair, much more vibrant than her mother's auburn. She had large eyes, and a faint splattering of freckles across her nose. She was very short, with a small figure. She was one of the teenagers pulling along a trunk, and had a wooden stick.

"Can we hurry up?" groaned the oldest. "I promised to meet Vernon at one. I don't want to be late."

"Petunia, you won't see your sister until Christmas. And all you care about is your date?"

"Yeah," she mumbled under her breath. The mother obviously looked irritated at this, but her sister couldn't care less, and discreetly wanled right through a wall.

Yes, right through a brick wall that divided platforms 9 and 10.

Although no one seemed to notice as her family followed suit.

When she emerged, she and her family were standing in front of a large red train with the words Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and a crest emblazoned on the front. A large smile spread accorss the redhead's face.

_Finally, _she thought, _I'm going home to Hogwarts._

AN: yes, I know I already wrote a prologue. But I'm replacing it with this one, which I like much more. Chapter 1 up this week!


	2. Chapter 1

Thanks to my reviewers! BlueSkies13, SiRiUs-PaDfOoT-bLaCk23451, MayFairy, Veronica Willlis, and Loslote!

Also, I replaced the prologue. So go back to the previous chapter if you're interested.

Red

Chapter 1

_Finally, _I thought, _I'm going home to Hogwarts._

Hogwarts had been my home since my first year; it had everything that I loved: classes, my best friend, and magic. Of course I had a house. But it wasn't my home; it was too broken. All the fighting, fighting, and fighting between Petunia and I, while my mum ignored it and thought everything was fine and dandy. My dad wasn't blind to the situation, and he tried to get her to see what was happening between us, of course that only produced fighting between them. It was just so miserable and tense there that I hated it.

So I was overjoyed to be going back.

I was trying to lift my overly-large trunk onto the train, when a pair of large hands helped my push it onto the rack. I turned around, straightening my shirt. I immediately recognized the sandy hair that fell slightly into coffee colored eyes, tall (6'3) and lanky form, and splattering of freckles across the long nose.

"Thanks, Remus!" I said brightly.

"Welcome," he replied. "Congrats on making Head Girl," he added with a smirk.

"Are you Head Boy? I assumed so, since you were such a great prefect."

He laughed. "No, sadly I still am a prefect."

"Really? I guess it must be Mark Clemmons, I don't know who else Dumbledore would pick."

Remus smiled widely and let out a chuckle; but I didn't know what was so funny. "Must be," he replied. "Well, Miss Evans, I must be off if I am to be in time for the meeting. It has been a pleasure," he said with a fake swooping bow.

I smirked. "I've had a grand time, Sir Lupin, but I am afraid I must be off as well. Until we meet again," I curtsied—which was hard to do since I was still in my jeans—and hurried off to get changed so I would be ready in time.

I had already planned out my speech that I would make to all the prefects, and I had fully expected Remus to be up there with me. But fate had other plans and now I was wondering who would be sharing the Heads Dorm with me this year. I walked down the compartments to the designated one in the front with growing dread. Sure Mark Clemmons was okay, but what if it actually wasn't him?

I pulled open the door to the compartment.

"_Evans_! You didn't tell me you're _Head Girl_! "

Without looking up I knew that voice. It haunted me in my nightmares. It belonged to James Potter.

I hated him. The words loathed, despised, couldn't stand, didn't compare to what I really felt. He was so full of himself, so big-headed. I had no idea why Dumbledore picked him for Head Boy, he was the most irresponsible person I knew and couldn't obey authority, let alone take a position with authority. He hadn't even been a prefect, for Merlin's sake! He could have anything he wanted, and never had to try. He got good marks in every class, was admittedly talented on the quidditch field—not that I would tell him that of course, that would only inflate his head even more. He pranked innocent people just for laughs, and disrespected teachers just because he could. They all somehow had a soft spot for him and his gang, the 'marauders', and even when they would pull a stupid prank you could see the sternest of all teachers lips twitch. He had thick square framed black glasses, a long nose, and untamable black hair. His eyes were of a hazel color, and he had a slightly muscular build.

He was the leader of the marauders, which was composed of himself, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. Remus, who I had already met earlier that day was my favorite of the marauders because he was actually down to earth, studied, and a nice guy. He was the most tame out of the four. I had no idea as to why he hung out with them. Sirius Black was the 'bad boy', with long black hair and grey eyes and a muscular build. He was a player but all the girls still loved him. Peter Pettigrew was the…oddball. He didn't really seem to fit in, since he had neither talent or looks or smarts. But I suppose it was because he had a kind heart and would say a good word about anybody, even if he was a little shy and awkward. He had watery blue eyes, a pointed nose, and heavy build, and light blonde hair.

"And you didn't tell me you're Head Boy, otherwise I wouldn't have come back," I snapped. My short temper was even quicker to fire when I was around Potter.

"Harsh, Evans. How was your summer?" he asked changing the subject abruptly. This caught me off guard. I had never heard him try to make a polite conversation in his whole life. Everything out of his mouth was a smart aleck remark.

"Fine," I lied. Petunia had actually ruined it for me. "You?"

He was about to reply when the door opened and Remus and a few other prefects walked in, another of which was in our year as well. He grinned a little when he saw James and I, and I realized that was what he had been laughing about before, he had known all along that Mark Clemmons wasn't the Head Boy. Once all the prefects had assembled, James and I stood up and introduced ourselves.

"Hi, everyone I'm sure you all know me but I'll introduce myself anyway. My name is Lily Evans. I'm really excited to take the role as Head Girl, and I'll try to keep the best interests of the school and students in mind when making decisions."

There was an awkward silence after. I had introduced myself, it was James's turn now. I tried to discreetly elbow him in the ribs.

"What?" he asked, looking at me with confusion all over his face.

"Introduce yourself!" I hissed.

"Oh, right." He started. A fifth year Hufflepuff giggled flirtatiously. "Well, I'm James Potter, prankster extraordinaire and Gryffindor quidditch captain and keeper."

I wisely took it from there, instructing them tutoring responsibilities, not abusing authority, and the rounds that they would have to make around the school. James was wise enough to let me take over, and settled with just adding in a few points here and there. I was surprised on how well he was taking the responsibility. He seemed to have read up on what prefect had to do, since he had not been one. I was probably giving him too much credit; he most likely asked Remus. But I was still glad that I wasn't making a speech with a statue standing next to me.

We sent them off once duties were explained and questions answered. It was just James and I, and I hoped to go over our plans as quickly as possible while still getting everything covered.

"Well, they sure seem excited," I remarked with sarcasm as I closed the door after the retreating group.

James laughed dryly. "Evans, I think you're the only one who actually likes this kind of thing."

"And what's wrong with that?" I snapped.

"Nothing! Nothing. Just makes you even more special."

I rolled my eyes "Nice save, Potter. Now down to business."

We discussed the rounds we would have to do, and I relented to doing them together. To be honest I never liked doing them by myself, as childish as it was. The Christmas Ball was discussed, and so was all the other responsibilities that came with being a Head. 

I soon found out that I needn't have dreaded this conversation. James had undoubtedly matured over the summer, he was easy to talk to and didn't make half the amount of witty or flirty remarks, and when they did they were in moderation and not offensive. He seemed real, unlike the fake guys who just wanted to get into your pants. But he was still funny and interesting, and talking to him wasn't like being in one of Binns's history of magic lessons. I found talking to him not only tolerable, but—I can't believe I'm saying this—fun. If he kept this up, sharing a dorm and rounds might not be as horrible as I expected.

We disembarked the train when someone fell in step with me.

"Looking for someone?" a voice asked conversationally.

"_Brittani!"_ I cried, enveloping the owner of the voice, who happened to be my best friend, a huge bear hug.

"Woah now, I know you missed me but if you want me to still be alive you might want to loosen your death grip," she choked in a muffled voice.

I laughed, and let my arms fall to my sides. "Where have you been hiding?" I asked. "I looked for you at Kings Cross but I didn't see you anywhere!"

Brittani sighed agitatedly. "I had the _pleasure_"—she said the word through gritted teeth with obvious disdain—"Of sitting with my brother, the one who's entering his first year, you know?" I nodded. "Yeah, well he asked the craziest questions. I mean honestly, why would there be _hags_ at Hogwarts?" She shook her head. "But he seemed to think so."

We caught each other up with what was happening in our lives lately, even though the last time we had seen each other had been but a few weeks ago and we had kept in touch by owl. But we found things to talk about; we always did.

Brittani was tall, with a strong frame but had not an ounce of fat on her. She had brown hair that was pin straight and went to her shoulders and bangs that were always a little long-mostly to cover her large eyebrows that she couldn't straighten out. She had dimples that accentuated her smile, and thick framed square red glasses. The one thing that she hated the most, but couldn't find a way to fix, was the mole that sat right on top of her cheekbone. I told her that it was fine, but she couldn't stand it. Whenever something went wrong, she blamed it on the Slytherins and her mole. She was quite into quidditch, and made the team on her second year. I thought that she should be the captain, instead of Potter, but I suppose I could be a little biased. On most of her assignments and exams she got 'Acceptable' and she was ok with that. She swore that she would she would be a professional quidditch player after Hogwarts, and then it wouldn't matter what happened in the Goblin Revolt of 1238. She came from a family with three brothers, two younger and one older. Brittani wasn't into boys at all, really, nor gossip. She theorized that all boys are stupid in love, and she didn't want it to rub off on her. But she was popular with the guys, and made friends easily.

We had gone through our first year and all the following ones later, and this year we could be slit up. She would be in the dorm with the rest of the seventh year Gryffindor girls, while I would be in the heads dorm with James. We both weren't too excited about it. I, of course, just hated spending time with James—altough talking with him earlier made me realize that he may have matured over the summer, he was still nothing compared to my best friend. As for the girls Brittani had shared the dorm with, they cared about boys, gossip, and loosing that extra bit of fat right below their navel that, in all honesty, was quite nonexistent.

When we had pulled up next to the castle. It loomed close, still as grand and magnificent as ever. It struck me oddly that this would be my last year getting out of the carriages and entering the Great Hall for the sorting and the feast. Of course I knew this day would come soon, but the years had flown by fast.

We all trooped into the Great Hall, and the first years stood in a trailing line. The sorting began, and we got a few new students added to the Gryffindor house, all of which received a healthy applause. Sirius, of course, punctuated it by a loud "Firsties! Just try to avoid that guy over there—" he pointed an accusing finger at Remus. "He can be a little…wolfish. If you value your little heads, I suggest you stay away." He and the marauders—save for Remus—howled with laughter, but the sorting continued nonetheless. Brittani's brother was sorted into Gryffindor as well, and we gave him a high-five as he passed us on the bench. He looked rather pleased to be in the famous Gryffindor house. Dumbledore's speech and a Sorting Hat song later, we were digging eagerly into the feast. It was just as good as last years, and all the years prior.

Brittani and I parted ways at the stairs, she went to her dorm and I to the Heads'. She trailed reluctantly behind Jana and Eliza, the two other girls. They were making dramatic hand gestures as they talked rapidly about how this girl looked much fatter than she did last year, and oh my God have Sirius is sooooooo much hotter than when I last saw him! Brittani walked backwards facing me , so she could make theatrical imitations of the two girls, making me have to stifle my laughter behind my hand. As she was about to turn the corner, she gave me a little wave, rolling her eyes but grinning in her usual way.

I trudged up the steps to my dorm, partially out of exhaustion, and partially because I wasn't too thrilled to be roomies with Potter. I found him waiting outside the door, pacing back and forth and muttering to himself. His eyebrows were creased, and his hand kept jumping to his hair to ruffle it.

"Evans!" he exclaimed, snapping back to his senses. "Good thing you came! I forgot the password."

I snorted. Just like Potter. "Oh, wouldn't it be a tragedy if you had to sleep outside on your first night back?" I asked, faking concern. I muttered the password. "Ladies first," I joked, holding the door open for him. He scowled and huffed inside.


	3. Chapter 2

AN: special thanks to my loverly reviewers: Veronica Willis and BlueSkies13, MayFairy, In Love With Prongs, and SiRiUs-PaDfOoT-bLaCk23451

*SEE END OF CHAPTER FOR SUMMARY OF PREVIOUS CHAPTERS*

Red

Chapter 2

I was awakened by the sharp tones of my alarm clock. The light streamed through the window and bright bursts of colors flared behind my eyelids. I flopped over on my stomach, reached an arm out to my dresser and banged around until I found the off button. I knew I had to get up. This morning we would receive our timetables, and classes would begin. I smiled as I rubbed the sleep from my eyes; I couldn't wait to get a great start to the year.

I had already planned out my mornings, coordinating my alarm clock and time to get ready so that I would be in the Great hall for breakfast by 7:30; classes started at 8. I gave myself one minute to get out of bed, eleven minutes to shower, three to get dressed, and ten to do my hair. Thus, I set my alarm for 6:05.

Everything went according to plan, and right when I was ready to head out the door, I noticed that I hadn't seen James the whole morning. I walked to his closed door, my fist raised above the wood. I rapped my fist on the door, but I actually ended up smashing it into James's nose; he had opened the door right when I pushed my fist forward.

"Oh, sorry!" I exclaimed, as he let out a yelp of surprise, hand jumping to his nose.

"It's fine," he pardoned me, letting his hand fall to his side again. There was a red mark on the bridge of his nose.

"Here, let me see if I can fix that…" I muttered a charm and the redness started to fade. He grinned.

"Thanks, Evans. You're not that bad when you're not punching people's noses."

"Oh, sod off."

We walked to the Great Hall together in silence. He was uncomfortably close to me, and his hand brushed against mine a few times. I snuck a glance at him. He was walking along easily, and I had a hard time keeping up with his long, loping strides. He turned suddenly, catching me staring at him.

"Enjoying the view?" he asked.

"Very much so," I replied, my voice dripping with sarcasm. "Especially the back."

"You'll pro'lly enjoy rounds then. Hours of my charming company."

"Looking forward to it."

"And we can tutor the firsties together, well except when you're PMSing," he added suddenly. "Then I think we'll have to get someone to take your spot,"

"Potter, you're toeing the line," I warned.

"The poor things wouldn't know how to deal with your…irritability," he continued, ignoring my cautioning. He grinned. "You know I was only joking," he added when I shot him a death glare.

"Still, that was rude. You never talk to a girl about her time of the month."

"Unless you wanna, _you know, _and you need to ask her if she's on the pill, and she says no, then you have to ask if there's a chance she's nearing her—"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" I yelled, covering my ears. James was a 'babe-magnet', and was admittedly almost as bad as Sirius.

"What?" he asked innocently, but his lips were twitching.

"You're perverted!" I cried.

"No—well, yes. Slightly. Only one more reason for you to love me."

"That makes no sense at all."

"Exactly."

I just laughed. He wasn't being overbearingly annoying, like last year, but he was still James. We had arrived at the Great Hall, and received a few questioning glances from others; James Potter and Lily Evans _never_ walked together. But this year, I had decided to put all juvenile ways behind me, and grow up a bit. James had too, apparently. He sat next to Sirius, across from Peter and Remus. I sat by Brittani, a few seats away.

"Come, now ladies, I can't smell that bad; I took a shower last week! Sit by us," Sirius said.

Brittani gave me a look that clearly said _boys will be boys_ and I agreed with a silent raise of the eyebrow. We mastered the art of silent conversations a long time ago. We both slid down though, so that I was sitting next to Sirius, and Brittani next to Remus.

"See, not that bad, eh?" Sirius grinned, slinging an arm casually over my shoulders. I shrugged it off.

"I can't say I agree with you," I joked, wrinkling my nose.

"Timetables!" Remus exclaimed, as the papers appeared next to our plates.

"Oh, joy. What a way to ruin my day," Brittani muttered, sparing them a glance. I eagerly looked at mine; I was always eager to go to my classes again. Yes, I was a nerd, and loved to learn; and had a bit of a reputation for it.

I read over my timetable. It was full, as usual, but I noticed I had a few free periods. We all compared schedules, and gladly most of my classes were with Brittani. I had a few with the Marauders. The first one of the day was potions, my favorite.

"Potions, what a great way to start the year," I sighed happily.

Sirius snorted. "Hardly. We barely even do anything in my class. All Slughorn does is say 'Sirius m'boy! Brilliant job, brilliant job,' and not even look to see that there's nothing in my cauldron."

"He does not," I defended.

"It's happened before!"

"Right—no."

"Pads, I've argued with Evans before. It's impossible to win."

"Thanks, Potter. But I'm not as bad as you," I shot back.

"Well, you only punched me this morning?"

Brittani howled with laughter. "What did you _do_?" She asked between bursts of mirth.

"I didn't mean to," I muttered. It was a little annoying that James knew it was an accident, but he told the story like I had deliberately socked him in the face—on purpose. And I didn't. I was making sure that he got up on time for Merlin's sake!

"No, she was just about to knock on the door and I opened the door and her fist hit my nose. And my glasses jammed into my face. But it was an accident, Right Evans?" He asked, grinning at me as he spoke. I raised an eyebrow and nodded.

"Well I still think that was bloody brilliant," Remus grinned. "Even if it was an 'accident'," he added.

We finished breakfast soon after, and then we were off to our classes. Brittani, Potter, Sirius and I all headed to potions, and Remus and Peter to herbology. We took our seats, Potter and Black a few tables way. Brittani and I were sitting next to some Ravenclaws, Gwynn and Celine. Slughorn waddled into the room, grinning jovially as usual.

"Welcome to NEWT level potions!" He exclaimed, clapping his hands twice to get everyone's attention. "You all have done quite well on your OWLS and sixth year exams, so that proves you have talent. This year will be much harder than all the years prior, but you all will do well; there must be a reason why you qualified for this class!

"Now since these potions are much more complex and time consuming, you all will be receiving partners. I have the list of pairings somewhere…"he trailed off, rummaging around in the pockets of his robes. "Ah, her we go! Let's see here. O'Neil and Jackson, Kaufmann and Bowers, Meyer and Clarke, Black and Schmidt, Evans and Potter, Roux and Bennet, and Black and Li," he read off the list of surnames. Brittani looked fairly pleased, she was with Jacob Meyer, a good looking guy who was on the Ravenclaw quidditch team. I was not happy nor mad, just indifferent. Potter was okay. But I could think of many other people to replace him with…Jacob Meyer, for instance.

"Hullo, Evans," he said heading over my way as he ruffled his hair.

"Potter," I nodded.

"Aw, c'mon w you can do better than that! We are best friends after all," he grinned.

"Oh really?" I asked raising my eyebrow. Slughorn put the directions to the potion we were to make on the board, it was called Amortentia.

"We'll start off easy, but things will get more challenging soon enough," Slughorn said with a wink. I went to the cabinet and got the necessary ingredients.

"We are, don't try and deny it," Potter told me as I set down my armful of vials and herbs and boxes.

"Are what?"

"Best friends," he said like it was the most obvious.

I scoffed. "Right," I replied, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

He slung his arm around me. "Glad you see clearly now."

I shrugged it off. It fell limply to his side. "Let's just get started," I said hastily.

"A'ite. I'll cut the root, you do the juice."

We finished fairly quickly, and it turned out not to be as much of a disaster as I thought it would be. Potter proved to be decent at potion making—but anyone in that class would have to be. Slughorn approved heartily, and gave his compliments. I met us with Brittani as we both headed out the door.

"How'd it gooooo?" she asked as she slung her bag over her shoulder.

"Ok. You?"

"Well, I was planning on injuring him so maybe he wouldn't be able to try out for Ravenclaw's quidditch team, but then I found out he's the captain. So I didn't bother. But it was nice because I didn't really have to do anything."

"Always the hard worker!" I teased.

"Of course," she grinned back. The rest of the day passed easily, classes went by quickly. I was in the Heads' common room getting a head start on transfiguration notes after I had eaten dinner.

"Evans, you have to be kidding me." James said after noisily baning the door open. He was standing in the doorway, a look of disappointment on his face.

"What?" I snapped. I was trying to work here.

"We don't even have homework assigned yet! And you're up here wasting your time 'working ahead."

"Well, I just wanted a head start!"

"It's the first day of classes!"

"It's never too early to get ahead."

James sighed, and took my book from my lap, threw it in his room, and locked the door.

"Potter!" I cried.

"Evans!" he mocked.

"Give me my book. Now."

"Now, manners like that won't get you anywhere," he admonished, wagging a finger.

"_Please_," I growled.

"Nope. You are going to do something fun. C'mon, everyone's outside! Just for an hour?"

"Half?"

"….Forty five minutes."

"Fine. And then do I get my textbook back."

He rolled his eyes. "Yes, you will get your bloody book back. Why do you hate fun so much?"

"I don't hate it. I can be fun when I want to be," he shot me a look. "Really! I just wanted to do a few notes and then I was planning on going to Brittani's dorm and doing something _fun_."

"Well, too bad 'cause you're going outside with me."

xxx

Previously…..Lily Evans is back for her seventh year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and has been appointed Head Girl. With just her luck, the person who irks her the most is Head Boy.


	4. Chapter 3

AN: Special thanks to my reviewers: MayFairy, In Love With Prongs, Veronica Willis, and roflshdwutssomail you all made my day!

I know you all are reading this; I got quite a few subscription and favorite story alerts! So please take the next step and review! But still, I'm glad y'all are at least reading.

…is it creepy that sometimes I wish I could meet my reviewers…? Ok now I prolly scared all of you that were going to review because you read the previous part away…forget I said that !

***SEE END OF CHAPTER FOR SUMMARY OF PREVIOUS CHAPTERS***

* * *

><p>Red<p>

Chapter 3

"Potter. I. Am. Not. Jumping. Into. The. Lake."

"Hmm, maybe I was right. Little Miss Goody-two-shoes _doesn't_ know how to have fun," Potter teased.

Since I had been stupid enough to agree to go outside in return for my Transfiguration book, I was now in a heated debate involving the marauders-mostly James and Sirius, Remus was wise enough to stay out of it, and Peter was a little bewildered on what to say-and I. We had gotten into the whole argument about how 'boring' I am, and they thought a good way for me to prove them wrong is to jump in the lake. With my clothes on. Now, I would go in if I had a swimsuit—which was conveniently stored away in my dresser drawer at the moment—but it so happened I was clad in full Hogwarts uniform attire—_white blouse _and all.

"Am not!" I cried. "I just don't want to make an idiot of myself; do something you would do."

"Well, I guess you won't be getting your textbook back for a few days," Potter grinned. I remembered with regret how I had so willingly given up my book and agreed to go outside so easily. I huffed. I didn't want to jump in, but I could dry myself off with my wand, I needed my book back, and he would never let me live it down.

"Fine. You win, Potter; I'll do it." He let out a raucous whoop, Sirius wolf whistled, Peer grinned uncertainly, and Remus shook his head sadly—but his lips were twitching. I gave Potter one more murderous look before I dived into the lake.

Right as I hit the water, I only thought of how much of an idiot I was, but then quickly decided that Potter would take the blame for this one. I surfaced, took a deep breath of air, wiped my eyes, and saw the crowd that had gathered to watch Lily Evans jump into the lake fully clothed. Gritting my teeth, I climbed, shivering out of the water. James immediately started laughing after seeing the look on my face.

"Aw, Potter, give me a hug," I said in a faux friendly voice. I walked towards him with arms outstretched and water dripping from the ends of my fingertips. I wrapped my arms around him before he could say anything, and dropped a piece of seaweed into his hair and rubbed it all in, while taking his wand from his back pocket.

"Very funny, Evans. But you know I can just…" he trailed off as he franctically searched his pocket for his wand. I smirked and held it up in front of my face, and cast a drying charm on myself. Now I was dry, and he was the one with seaweed in his hair and dripping wet with lake water.

"I dont think you're wet enough. _Agumenti!_" He sspluttered as the jetof water streaming from his own wand in my hand hit him squre in the face. "Now, Potter, tell me that I'm no fun one more time. Unless…I proved you wrong?"

He grinned. "You may know how to have a good time, Evans."

I gave a satisfied nod.

"But I can run faster than you!"

And with that, he sprinted after me. I took off as well, running towards the castle. It was only a minute before he grabbed my arm, and I spun around to face him.

"Miss Evans," he breathed, as I stood dangerously close to him. His grip on my arm tightened. "I'm afraid you'll have to give me my wand back."

"Only if I get my book."

He sighed. "Always has to be something in it for you, huh?"

"Well, I might as well take advantage of the situation."

"Smart girl."

"Thank you," I replied dryly. "Once I am holding my book, I suppose you can have your wand."

"Deal."

"You know, Potter," I said as we walked back to the dorm. "Besides getting soaking wet, this wasn't as bad as I thought it would be."

He flashed me a crooked smile. "Really?"

I shrugged. "Maybe not as good as studying—and definitely not as much fun as hanging out with Brittani—but okay."

He faked crying. "I'm touched, Evans."

"Don't flatter yourself, Potter," I warned him.

"Too late for that."

XXX

Brittani cornered me right as I waked into the common room. "Where were you? What happened to our butterbeer chugging contest? I had to drink it all by myself."

"Sorry! You know I would have won."

"Well, not if I spiked yours with firewhiskey."

"You would not."

"Never drank before, Miss Head Girl?"

I didn't say anything, causing Brittani to roar with laughter. But she didn't let me off too easily.

"So?"

"So what?"

"You never answered my question: where were you?"

"It's a long story."

"I'm not going anywhere anytime soon!"

"Well, Potter grabbed my Transfiguration book and chucked it into his room, locked the door, and demanded I went outside with him, otherwise that would prove that I was boring. But mostly, I needed my book back. So I obliged—albeit unwillingly."

Brittani was shaking her head sadly. "I cant believe you ditched me for Potter—the person you loathe most in the whole world."

"I didn't want to!" I protested. Brittani laughed and slung an arm over my shoulder.

"Oh, Lily dearest, don't you fret about it. You are welcome to ditch me for Potter anytime, as long as it's not Jana and Eliza." She snorted.

"Don't worry," I grinned back.

"Lily flower!" Sirius cried. "And the lovely Brittani."

Brittani sighed. "It's a pleasure. What do you want."

"Your love."

"Stuff it, Black," she said.

"Stuff what? Your bra? You do need it, not to be—"

"THAT'S ENOUGH! WHAT DO YOU WANT SIRIUS BLOODY BLACK?" Brittani screamed, waking up all the people who had previously been dozing off ontop of thir books.

Sirius grinned, unfazed by her yelling. "I already told you. Your lo—"

"For God's sake, you two, cut it out. What did you come here for, Sirius?" I asked in as much of a calm voice I could muster.

"Well, Lily Flower, thank you for asking so politely," he said, giving Brittani a pointed look. She rolled her eyes. "James wants to talk to you," he smirked a little after this, and Brittani snorted but covered it up with a sneeze.

I laughed a little. "Why couldn't he come down to see me himself?"

He shrugged. "Dunno, Prongs does weird things."

I huffed. "I will go see His Royal Highness who is too much of an arse to come down and see someone he wants to talk to."

"Evans!" Potter greeted once I opened the door. "How goes it?"

"Wonderful."

"I was wondering if you would be willing to do rounds alone, just for tonight?"

"…Why."

"Because I kind of… have something to do."

I sighed. I had anticipated this; that Potter wouldn't be able to handle responsibility. And the first night we had rounds, he was bailing out on me.

"Sure. Whatever. Have fun drinking and shagging girls."

"No! That's not what I'm doing."

"Oh really?" Pre tell. Enlighten me. Explain."

A pained look crossed his face. "I cant say."

I looked at him for a minute. He looked truly ashamed. Well, at least he wasn't completely happy he was ditching me.

"Please, cover for me, Evans?"

I decided against my better judgement. "Fine. Just this once, next time I'm telling McGonagall and she won't be too happy. Then Samuel Clemmons will replace you."

"Oh, Evans, you're a life saver."

"Save it Potter," I was actually mad—not irritated, or annoyed but angry. I turned on my heel and stalked out, ready to face the castle alone—something I rarely ever did; in my prefect days Remus would accompany me. I slammed the door behind me, only to hear it bang open again.

"Evans," Potter said loudly.

"What," I hissed, not bothering to turn around.

He ran up so that he was facing me. I started to turn around, but he caught me by the shoulders. I reluctantly met his hazel eyes. They seemed to be searching me, but what for I could not tell.

"I really, _really_ wish I could tell you. Honest."

"Well, if you did want to that bad, you would."

After that I left him standing alone in the light of the full, bright moon.

AN: Sorry this is a little—a lot—on the short side. But I am currently at a tennis tournament and the writing juices just aren't flowing. I have the rest of this story planned out, and I can promise you that the next chapter gets interesting. I just wanted to use these first few to kind of introduce the characters and such. Thanks for reading and reviewing!

* * *

><p><strong>Previously…..Lily Evans is back for her seventh year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and has been appointed Head Girl. With just her luck, the person who irks her the most, James Potter, is Head Boy. He isn't as bad as she thought; fairly tolerable mostly. They go to their first day of classes and she is his partner in Potions class. After Potter takes away her Transfiguration book, telling her that she doesn't know how to have fun and only studies, he forces Lily to go outside with him.<strong>


	5. Chapter 4

AN: Hello again! Muchas gracias a: MayFairy, In Love With Prongs, aamandawinss, Loslote, Veronica Willis !

Hmmm… I always read long AN's and theY're so funny and witty but I really have nothing to say. Then I wonder if people actually read these things. Prolly not. If you do happen to be reading this, leave a review saying "_Snape is a butt trumpet_" and yes, that is a AVPS reference.

One more thing and this _is_ actually important: **I have a new poll**! Check out my prof to see what it is, but I shall leave you a hint—has to do with religion, specifically Christianity. If you don't think you'll be interested, then don't go. But if you think you might be, the please go ahead and share your thoughts!

This chapter is dedicated to my Nana, who has supported my writing by giving advice and critique and even just being interested in my writing! Thank you and happy mother's day!

***SEE END OF CHAPTER FOR SUMMARY OF PREVIOUS CHAPTERS***

Red

Chapter: 4

I walked off all the anger that I had and vented under my breath about Potter. After the four grueling and generally uneventful eventful hours of wandering the hallways, and only discovering a couple hidden away in a closet for a snog, I decided that I best not hold grudges against him.

I would give him one more chance. We're only human, and I made my share of mistakes, too. I was going to try and cooperate with him even if he was being an absolute bloody arse. I didn't want to be immature and disappoint McGonagall.

The next morning started like all others. _Started_.

"LILY!" I heard a voice yell, and a fist was banging on the bathroom door.

I was currently in the shower, lathering my hair with conditioner.

"WHAT?" I yelled back over the rushing water coming from the shower head.

"I'M SORRY ABOUT LAST NIGHT, EVANS, I REALLY SHOULD HAVE TAKEN RESPONSIBILITY BUT….I DIDN'T."

"ITS OK."

"WHAT?"

"ITS FINE, POTTER."

"REALLY?"

"YES. JUST DON'T DO IT AGAIN."

"THANKS EVANS!"

"YES, NOW LEAVE ME ALONE," I bellowed, and enjoyed the five minutes to silence that followed, before I had to get out of my safe, warm, haven of a steamy shower and into another hectic, long day as Head girl.

James Potter had just apologized to me. Maybe the world was really ending. So, as part of my resolution that I would be mature and civil to Potter, I cornered him on the way out of our common room.

"Potter, I've been thinking—"

"That's a surprise," he cut in with a smirk.

"_That_," I continued through clenched teeth. "We should try to be acquaintances and set a good example for the younger students, and most importantly, show McGonagall and Dumbledore that we can handle authority and put grudges aside when needed."

Potter clapped mockingly. "Brilliant speech, Miss Evans."

"I'm trying to be serious here!"

Potter laughed. "Well, in that case, then," I saw him look at me from the corner of my eye, but I kept mine trained on the sea of students that surrounded us as we walked to the Great Hall. "I would be glad to be your indifferent acquaintance."

We walked the rest of the way in a comfortable silence. Upon arriving in the Great Hall, Brittani threw herself on me. "TRYOUTS ARE TODAY!" she cried frantically, shaking me roughly by the shoulders. Sirius chuckled behind her. "WHAT IF I DON'T MAKE IT?"

I sighed, and sat her down at a table. "Brittani. We have this conversation every year. _You will make the team_. You have ever since your second year!"

"Yeah, but…" she wrung her hands. Quidditch was quite dear to her, and the thought of not playing caused her to be very insensible and illogical. "What if…a new firstie is realllllllly good?"

"That hasn't happened all the years you've been on the team. And better than a seventh year? I don't think so." She opened her mouth to talk, but I held up a finger and continued to speak. "And, as always, I will come to watch."

XXX

I sat alone in the warm summer-fading-into-fall sun, and watched Potter assemble the team below from the stands.

"What is a pretty girl like you doing sitting out here by yourself?"

I looked towards the source of the voice. He was in my year, a Ravenclaw, but I couldn't really remember his name. He had a muscular frame, bright blue eyes, and a wavy sandy blonde hair that just passed his ears. Not too bad, if you ask me.

"What is a Ravenclaw doing at the Gryffindor quidditch tryouts?" I countered. He sat down next to me, chuckling.

"Well, I'm the captain of the Ravenclaw team, so I thought I might as welcome out the competition."

"H'm, good thinking. But I don't think you have a chance."

His eyebrows shot up. "Oh, really?"

"Well, we've won the cup the past three years in a row. And I think Potter's going to keep as much of the team as he can; but there was one seventh year that left last year that he will have to replace."

"Well, it seems you are quite informed on the subject."

"I am," I smiled. "My best friend, Brittani, is the seeker."

We talked for around a half hour, about classes, teaches, families, and everything under the sun.

I don't think we have had any classes together?"

"Sadly not," he replied cheekily. "But do you take Charms?"

"Yes," I replied uncertainly.

"Well, maybe we should study for the exam next week…together."

"I would like that," I replied truthfully."

"I don't think I formally introduced myself. Jacob Dawson."

I smiled. "Lily Evans."

"Meet you in the library, at seven tomorrow?"

"Definitely."

He flashed me a blinding smile, and trooped back down the stands. My eyes were focused on the pitch, but my mind was far away.

It wasn't a date, but the next best thing. I hadn't really had a boyfriend for a while, and I wouldn't be too depressed if our relationship evolved into a deeper one. He was polite, good looking, and obviously cared about his grades if he wanted to study with me. I was actually quite excited for seven o'clock to come tomorrow.

The tryouts ended soon after, and of course, Brittani made it. James kept the same team except he added a fourth year to be a beater along with Sirius.

"Good job!" I congratulated Brittani. She dismissed it, waving her hand.

"He didn't even have me fly. But I saw you were hitting it up with a strapping young man over there!"

I blushed faintly. "Yeah, we're going to study tomorrow."

"Study? More like snog—"

"Who's having a snogging session tomorrow?" Black interrupted loudly, coming up behind us.

"No one!" I replied shrilly at the same time as Brittani's "Lily and that Ravenclaw."

"H'm I see we have contradicting stories here."

"We are NOT snogging. We're just studying."

Black coughed and let out a noise that sounded suspiciously like 'nerds', causing Brittani to punch him in the shoulder.

AN: **Here is a suggestion for my readers: I will make chapters shorter, but update twice a week? Yes? No? let me know in a review! **

Previously…..Lily Evans is back for her seventh year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and has been appointed Head Girl. With just her luck, the person who irks her the most, James Potter, is Head Boy. He isn't as bad as she thought; fairly tolerable mostly. They go to their first day of classes and she is his partner in Potions class. After Potter takes away her Transfiguration book, telling her that she doesn't know how to have fun and only studies, he forces Lily to go outside with him. He has her prove that she really can have fun by jumping in the lake. Later that day he proves that he really can't handle responsibility by skipping out on rounds.


	6. Chapter 5

AN: Thanks to all my reviewers! **LadyLupin98**, **In Love With Prongs**, **Obscure Soul**, **horseisove**, **Veronica Willis**, **Loslote**, **Mayfairy**, my anonymous reviewer without a name, **SiRiUs-PaDfOoT-bLaCk23451**, and **EnglandChick**! I was pleasantly surprised at the number of "Snape is a butt trumpet" reviews I got =]

**I have (another) new poll! 'Favorite Beatle?' I'm interested to hear what you all think! Check it out on my prof if you're interested.**

I thought I might share some of the story stats with you, just to let you know how we're doing…

_Words: 8116; Chapters: 5 (four chapters and prologue); Reviews: 30; Hits: 1028; Favorites: 10; Alerts: 13_

There it is! I think things are going considerably well, considering this is only the fifth chapter. I think I'll post the story stats every five chapters.

***SUMMARY OF PREVIOUS CHAPTERS AT END OF CHAPTER***

Red

Chapter 5

News always spread quickly at Hogwarts, and had a tendency to get a little warped as it went along.

"Did you hear about Lily Evans and Jacob Dawson?"

"What? They're together?"

"I dunno, I think so! Brittani and Lily were walking into the common room, talking about Lily 'meeting up' with Jacob. Jana overheard and she told me."

XX

"Really? Lily and Jacob?"

"Yeah! Apparently they met up to study but ended up snogging the whole night long! Someone found them in a broom cupboard."

XX

"You can't be serious."

"I am. Lily Evans Jacob Dawson disappeared into the Ravenclaw common room at midnight. To do what, Merlin knows, but I have my suspicions that it involved a lot of snogging and maybe…"

"_Lily Evans?_"

"I know, that's what I thought! But its true."

XX

"She WHAT? Oh, no, no, no, honey, that is entirely not true. This story has gone too far. They haven't even met up yet!" Brittani said after hearing a fifth year relay the story that she had heard, asking if there was any truth in it. "Look, they're going to met up to _study_," she sighed exasperatedly. "Oi, we have to get this fixed."

XX

Laying down my quill, I rubbed my eyes. I had worked on a potions essay for three hours straight, and I had only half of it done, but I had three days to finish it. As my reward for working so hard, I got to spend an hour and a half with Potter doing rounds. _Yay._

I knew that he really wasn't that bad. I was just used to dreading time with Potter. It was a habit.

Potter was waiting at the entrance to our common room, leaning casually against the door frame. He pushed himself off it when I drew near

"Ready?" I asked wearily.

He opened the door wordlessly, and gestured for me to go through.

Stepping through, I commented "You're quiet today."

He smirked half-heartedly. "Yeah, I suppose I am. Quidditch was tough today," he said excusing himself, and gesturing outside the windows of the fourth corridor where the wind was wildly throwing the trees about in the light of the moon.

"H'm."

We were silent for a few minutes.

"So, Jacob Dawson, eh?" Potter said suddenly.

"…What about him?"

"You and him together?"

"No, Merlin, no," I laughed weakly. "I didn't think you were one for gossip, Potter."

"And I didn't think that you were one for Dawson."

"Well, I suppose we were both wrong."

I snuck a glance at him. His brow was knitted together, and his hazel eyes were trained on the stone floor, darting around calculatingly as they surveyed the ground. His glasses were pushed far down his nose and his untamable black hair stuck up in all directions. He caught me staring, and quickly diverted his eyes back to the floor.

"Honestly, what's your problem with me hanging out with Jacob?"

"Whoever said I have one," he snapped tensely.

"Well, I've never seen you this…reserved before."

"I told you, quidditch was rough today."

"And I've never seen you so down after a practice. You have said the extreme weather is invigorating."

"Maybe it wasn't quidditch, and maybe I just don't feel like telling you," Potter growled. I raised my eyebrows and decided that if I wanted to alive to be able to take my N.E.W.T's I should probably stuff it. Hence, we walked through the rest of rounds in an atrociously, horrendously, awkward silence. He didn't bother holding the door open for me as he threw it open and stormed through it. It banged closed, and I hesitated before opening it again. I didn't think he really wanted to be bothered now, for whatever reason.

Even though it was twelve o'clock at night, I headed out to see Brittani. We had an essay due tomorrow, and she always did homework last minute. I knew she would be up and eager for a break from the toils of the quill. My thoughts confirmed; she was sitting by the light of the fire, straining her eyes to see the words scrawled on her paper. I plopped down beside her.

"Yello," she said, setting her blue quill down gently on the bridge of her nose, tilting her head up as she tried to balance it.

"I see we are being very productive," I snorted.

"It…helps me concentrate…on one certain…thing," she said, tilting her head every which way to get her quill to stay on her nose.

"I see. Did quidditch go well today?"

"Yeah, except—agh," she finished as her quill fell to the floor. She sighed, picking it up. "Except it was a little windy."

"Was Potter in a bad mood?"

"James? No he was fine and dandy."

"That's weird."

"What's weird?"

"He was pretty mad during rounds, and he said it was because of quidditch," I explained.

"Well, then, James Potter is a pretty good liar."

"I suppose…" I replied. "It's just so…strange. He's never angry—well at least he never shows it like he just did—and he wont tell me why."

"Well, you aren't exactly 'best mates'; you don't confide often with each other."

"We don't," I admitted. "But it was just weird."

"He'll probably be back to normal tomorrow."

"I sure hope so. It was so uncomfortable during rounds; he wouldn't say anything. And when he did, it wasn't very pleasant."

"Are you worried about _James Potter_?" Brittani asked incredulously.

"No. I was merely curious."

"M'hmmm."

I rolled my eyes. "Thanks for being so supportive."

"Sure thing! So, you are apparently quite the scarlet woman."

"What?"

"So you and Dawson reaaaally hit it off eh? That was quick, I never—"

"What are you talking about?"

Brittani smirked. "You haven't heard any of the rumors, have you?"

"No," I said hesitantly. "Do I want to?"

Brittani winced. "Maybe not."

"Tell me anyway," I insisted. I usually got a laugh out of all the outrageous rumors that spread like wildfire around Hogwarts.

"Well, apparently you and Jacob Dawson snogged until midnight, after which you…disappeared into…the Ravenclaw common room."

I stared at her for a moment before I burst out laughing. "Are you serious? Of, these only get better!" I cried between bursts of mirth. "We haven't even studied together—that's tomorrow! And I've never, you know—" I cut myself off with another fit of laughter.

Brittani chuckled. "I think the best rumor was that one about McGonagall and Dumbles snogging in the lake, when it was actually the giant squid trying to get some seaweed off of its tentacles?"

"Oh, Merlin," I laughed. "That was definitely the best."

XX

Around one in the morning, I finally made my way back into the common room. I opened and closed the door as quietly as I could, so I wouldn't wake Potter up. I had a feeling that he wouldn't want to be waked, and I didn't want him any more angry that he already was.

The light was already on, and Potter was sitting on the edge of our couch with his head in his hands, and shirt and tie undone. I thought he was asleep, but his head snapped up upon my entering. His glasses were dejected on the table in front of him, and his hazel eyes looked at me blearily, lined with light purple shadows underneath; bereft of their usual shine. I gave him a curt nod, trying to avoid conversation.

He opened his mouth to speak, but ended up just ruffling his hair. I scurried into my room, still not sure why he was acting so…weird. He wasn't acting outright angry, just very, very, irritated. But I knew that he was probably fuming inside, and there was some internal war going on too.

XX

Just because I had said that Jacob and I weren't seeing each other didn't mean I wished we did. I went through classes that day without contributing to the lecture as I usually would, and whenever someone would comment on my lack of conversation, I blamed it on a—truthfully nonexistent—headache. But I was honestly preoccupied by the incessant fluttering of the 'butterflies' in my stomach when I would constantly check the clock to count down the hours until I met up with Jacob. Soon enough the fateful hour of seven o'clock arrived, and I found myself waiting in the library, clutching my charms book. Five minutes later, I was still waiting, and tapping my quill rhythmically on the table. Another five, and I was staring at the door, wondering where he could be. I saw him stride through nonchalantly, twelve minutes past seven.

"Hey," He grinned.

"Hi," I smiled back.

"So, let's get to studying, eh?"

"Good idea," I replied. "I think I'm pretty well prepared, but I could still know the material better."

"Well, Miss Evans, that's what I'm here for."

We actually studied fairly dillegently for the better part of a hour, but eventually after going over the same monotonous pages Jacob slammed his book shut and leaned back on the tw rear legs of his chair."

"I think that's all I can take in at the moment," he admitted. "I don't this old thing here," he pointed at his head. "feels like taking in anything else."

"I agree," I replied. "My brain is at the dangerous point of overflowing." I started to pack up my bag, but he grabbed my wrist firmly.

"Oh, no I don't think I'm done yet," he said. "All we've done is study."

I smirked. "Please feel free to correct me if I'm erroneous, but wasn't that the purpose of this convention?"

"Well," he said, imitating my tone. "it was original purpose, you are correct. But I feel the need to, ah, get to know you better, Miss Evans. I feel as if I have never met you at all; I know not the slightest of you or your interests or lifestyle."

"Oh, to be true, it is not that exhilarating. It is quite dull, in all honesty."

He laughed. "I'm sure it is not," he replied, dropping the faux voice.

"Ask me anything, and I will most likely be able to answer."

"Favorite color?" he began.

"Very original," I remarked. "Azure."

"Very eloquent."

"Well, I couldn't settle with something as nondescript as plain old blue!"

He chuckled. "Favorite flower?"

"Daisy."

"Class?"

"Potions, hands down."

"Animal?"

"Panda."

"Interesting. Season?"

"Spring."

"Band?"

"Stones, definitely."

"Really? I saw you as more of a Temptations kind of girl."

I grinned. "They're alright, I suppose. Now do I get to do the same for you?"

'Sure," he smiled blue eyes twinkling.

XX

The rest of our 'study session' went well. We asked each other tons of questions, and I learned a lot about him. He loved quidditch, and was taught at the age of three by his father who died two years back. His dad was aspiring to be a professional, but settled down instead and worked at the ministry. But Jacob wanted to go pro, and I got the impression that that would very likely happen. He had a surviving mother, and two older brothers that were off and working. One was twenty-one, and looked just like him with blonde hair and blue eyes and the other was twenty-five with brown hair and grey eyes. His oldest brother and him didn't get along so well, but he hung around with the twenty-one year old brother that they were almost twins—in looks and interests. He was the captain of the Ravenclaw quidditch team and played beater, and was very excited to graduate and planned on getting a place with two of his best friends.

We were just setting up a time to meet tomorrow, when Potter strode right up to our table.

"Sorry, but Lily has to go."

We both stared at Potter for a moment.

"Excuse me?" Jacob growled, inching protectively to my side.

"You heard me," Potter said loudly.

"I'm sure she's perfectly capable of knowing where she needs to be when."

"Yeah, well rounds started two minutes ago."

"Two minutes. Two freaking minutes. Do you know how ridiculous you sound right now?"

"Erm, alright, I'll see you at seven tomorrow?" I said to Jacob, cutting in before a fight began.

"Yeah," he muttered angrily, still eyeing Potter.

I grabbed Potter by the arm and dragged him out of the library. Merlin, he was in for it.


	7. Chapter 6

AN: Yes, yes, I'm a few days lake. Ok, a week late. Sorry, life happens.

Theanks to my reviewers: In Love With Prongs, MayFairy, Veronica Willis, Loslote, A Fan, TWHATT18, SiRiUs-PaDfOoT-bLaCk2351,, & roflshvukomail!

Im writing this in class. I feel so BA.

*SUMMARY OF PREVIOUS CHAPTERS AT END OF CHAPTER*

* * *

><p>Red<p>

Chapter 6

I had given Potter a talking-to after his little tantrum in the library. I clearly told him that I could talk to whoever I wanted, whenever I wanted. He stood there like a child who had just been told off by the teacher and grumbled an insincere apology.

He acted like PMS-ing girl who had just ran out of pads for about a week more, until he finally pulled the wand out of his knickers.

"I just decided to move on. Sure I'm still mad about y-that person, even though it's a completely irrational anger, but I just stopped moping about it. But I still don't like what they're doing."

"So it's a person?" I asked. We were doing rounds rather slowly, and I was just trying to keep from being bored; it really didn't matter to me as long as he was over it.

"Yeah, a close frie—acquaintance. I think."

"Close acquaintance? Isn't that an oxymoron of sorts?"

He chuckled. "Well, I guess so."

A few minutes after a comfortable silence, he asked "What if someone you knew, say, Brittani, was doing something that she wanted to do, and didn't involve you, but it made you angry, would you do something about it?"

I gave him a weird look. "Since when did you ask for my advice?"

"I didn't," he said hastily. "I was just asking you a perfectly innocent question to...determine your character, your reasoning."

"Riiiight. Potter, I am not as thick as you think I am. It's blatantly obvious you want a piece of my never ending wisdom."

"But I don't think you're thick!" he defended himself.

"Mhm."

"Just answer the bloody question," he groaned.

"Ok. Well, I suppose that if it made her happy, then I would be okay with it. But if it was hurting her, then I would do something."

James groaned loudly. "Why do you have to be so nice?"

I raised my eyebrows. "Nice?" I repeated incredulously.

"Yeah, nice."

"You're joking. I've treated you horribly for the last few years. And you're calling me nice."

"Yes, I know. To me, you have. But to everyone else, kind and selfless and nice."

"H'm. Is that a compliment?"

"Why, yes; yes, I do believe it is."

"Well, then, I suppose that thanks are in order."

"I dare say I must agree with you."

"Thank you, then, Mr. Potter."

"You are welcome my fair lady."

"...Too far there, Potter," I told him.

"Sorry."

"So, what exactly did you want my advice for?"

"A friend," he replied nonchalantly, reusing to meet my eyes.

"Does this friend happen to be named James Potter?"

"No," he said a little too quickly. I laughed.

"Suuuure."

"No, Really! Remus needed the advice."

"You're a horrible liar, you know."

"C'mon, Evans. I am not!"

"Correction. You can lie to the teachers, but that's pretty much it."

"Nu uh. You can't be a marauder and not know how to lie. It just doesn't work like that."

"Then you must be a pretty bad marauder, because that lie right there was awful. Remus, needing advice? He's the one who would _give _advice."

James sighed. "Too true. I should have thought that one over more."

"Back to the question: why do you need my advice?"

"Because," he muttered. "I thought you might be able to help."

"Oh. Well. Was it helpful?" I asked, a little taken back."

He smiled. "Yeah. It was."

XXX

I yawned widely as I staggered through the common room door. Potter and I had just chased three students up four flights of stairs and six corridors. After catching them, I had slouched down against the wall and nearly fainted, while Potter gave them a way too light talking to, and then sent them off with a smirk on his face; after all they had been in the midst of planning a prank. Of course Potter would never discourage pranking, but encourage it. Since the marauders were leaving after this year, they were probably eager to find someone to fill their occupation of 'biggest pranksters of all time'. For all I knew they were probably holding auditions.

Now, consequently, I was dead on my feet. It had annoyed me how Potter had just got back up after all that running and energetically asked if I was ready to get going back. I gave him a look that clearly said no. I honestly wouldn't say I'm fat or anything, just really, really, really out of shape. He then dragged me to my feet and all the way back to the common room.

During that exhausting trip back to the common room, I thought over some things.

First of all, I had a good time with Potter the last few days during patrols…I was actually enjoying his company.

Second of all, I needed to get in shape.

Third of all, I needed a stimulating, long talk with Brittani, during which I was going to go over all the slightly frightening events of…the past few days.

I found Brittani sitting in her usual chair by the fire and flipping through a magazine full of broom models. I snagged her by the arm, and dragged her to my common room.

"Nice to see you too," she said wearily, plunking down on my couch. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"There have been some… strange things that happened that need your attention."

"Oh, really, and I thought you only dragged me here to comment on the weather tomorrow," she said dryly.

I gave her a look. "Ok, ok, all sarcastic comments are done," she said, putting her hands up in surrender.

"Potter has grown on me."

"WHAT? The world is ending, the world is ending…Merlin I'm not going to heaven, I can tell you that. I'm not ready to go to hell!"

I gave her a light slap and rolled my eyes. "Really, Brittani, he has. I used to think that he was the worst human being corrupting the planet, but now, just straight up indifference. No love, but no hate. Actually, at the rate my mind is leaving me, I wouldn't mind being his friend in a bit."

Brittani shrugged. "He's a nice guy. I guess it's just taken you a while to realize that. Most people—except teachers and Slytherins—think he's alright.. It was just you, Lils, who thought he was disgusting."

I groaned. "Yeah, he was always nice to everyone else. But to me he was a complete arse."

"And now he's not."

"True."

"So, being the kind-hearted person you are, you are unconsciously are forgiving him of his past transgressions."

"But I don't want to!"

"Well, it looks like your heart got the best of you this time."

"I guess so," I grumbled. "It's just so…weird. It's like we are almost becoming friends."

"People do change, you know. Think about it, did you _enjoy_ it when he was a jerk?"

"No," I muttered resentfully.

"Then why are you upset?"

"…I don't know. It's just such a drastic change."

XXX

I met up again with Jacob, and it went as well as the last time. Thankfully, Potter didn't show up again and ruin it like he had earlier. I had internally forgiven him for it when he had said that he had gotten over what had been bothering him. He had probably been so rude out of anger about whatever was bothering him.

I liked Jacob. He had a kind personality and was easy to talk to, and didn't look too bad either. He was diligent in his studies, accomplished in quiddtich, had good manners; almost Mr. Perfect.

Almost.

See, there was this…ugly side of him that rarely ever showed itself. For instance, he showed up late both times we met up. He was very protective, almost over-protective. Whenever another guy would walk by, his hand would just to mine, or around my waist. We weren't even going out yet. Especially when Potter came by the last time we met up, he had been almost as bad as the messy-haired boy himself. Or the previous day, in Charms, Brittani was gone dealing with her youngest brother and some bullies so I was bereft of a partner. Potter had good-naturedly asked if I needed a partner and if so would I like to be partners with him? I had gratefully agreed; knowing that he was decent at charms and I wouldn't have to be stuck with someone who was failing the class. Jacob had instantly stormed over and demanded what Potter was doing with me, and without waiting for an answer he grabbed me roughly by the elbow and dragged me off to his table. He acted like that for the rest of the class but when we met today everything was fine and dandy. He was just so…possessive sometimes. It was like I wasn't a person, just a possession.

I reasoned that as long as the ugly side of him didn't show too often, I was perfectly fine with frequently being in his company

XXX

Brittani and I were heading to herbology when Potter came up and cornered me.

"Would it be alright if Remus took over rounds for the night?"

"Why."

"I have an engagement."

"Didn't we already go over this Potter?" I asked, remembering the last time Potter had ditched.

"Yeah, but this time I've hired a sub," he grinned.

"Do I want to know why?"

"Prolly not," he laughed.

"Doesn't poor Remus have better things to do?"

"Yeah, but I'm making it worth his while. He gets seventeen bars of Honeydukes chocolate."

"…Give one to me and you got yourself a deal," I compromised, sticking out a hand for him to shake.

"Oh, Evans, always want something out of it, don't you?"

"Well, I might as well take advantage of the situation."

"Done." He eagerly shook my hand.

XXX

I met Remus at the Great Hall after my last class of the day. "Just like old times, eh?" he grinned as I walked into the Hall. I smiled as I remembered how we had always done rounds together the past two years.

"Yeah. Just like old times."

We started off around the grounds, the light of the moon illuminating the rolling greens. The sight was truly breathtaking, as it always was. The water in the lake stirred slightly, moved by the calm wind.

We walked around one side of the lake, to the skirts of the forest. Remus broke me out of my stupor; "Have you thought about how dangerous things have been getting?"

"Yeah. I try not to, but it's just something you can't ignore. But do you think that Voldemort guy is really going to do anything?'

"Yes, its not just him anymore. He's got followers, called Death Eaters or something. They do all the petty things, murdering and torturing muggles and muggle-borns. But him and the top Death Eaters are the ones causing the damage to the ministry and neighborhoods."

"Think he'll stay way form Hogwarts?" I asked, worried for the students who would come after me.

"If he's smart, he'll go straight here. Think about it. Kids are easy to persuade; they are still determining who they are and what they believe. And, we are the future generations. If he corrupted the minds of the people who will eventually populate the wizarding word, then he could take over easily when we all get older and the prominent generation."

I groaned. "It's too true. If he starts to, we have to do everything in our power to—"

Remus threw his hand over my mouth.

"Voices," he hissed, almost inaudibly. We stilled.

I listened, gripping Remus's arm tightly. I could make out the voices, and exactly what they were saying.

* * *

><p>AN: OOH, cliffy!<p>

Its weird. When I started writing this chapter, I was in school and looking forward to a qualifier tournament this weekend. Now, I'm out and have a broken toe and probably not going to be able to play.

**Previously…..Lily Evans is back for her seventh year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and has been appointed Head Girl. With just her luck, the person who irks her the most, James Potter, is Head Boy. He isn't as bad as she thought; fairly tolerable at best. They go to their first day of classes and she is his partner in Potions class. After Potter takes away her Transfiguration book, telling her that she doesn't know how to have fun and only studies, he forces Lily to go outside with him. He has her prove that she really can have fun by jumping in the lake. Later that day he proves that he really can't handle responsibility by skipping out on rounds. Lily goes to study with Jacob Dawson, the handsome, smart, quidditch captain from Ravenclaw, and quite enjoys his company. James is very irritated at something, and Lily picks up on this right away. He doesn't specify why he is so angry, though, and rudely interrupts Lily's and Jacob's study session.**


	8. Chapter 7

AN:

Well, my internet's down. So it took me a while to fix it. Sowwy! R&R!

Thank you to my loverly reviewers: Alphaxl662, TWHATT18, In Love With Prongs, Veronica Willis, Loslote, elbs, SiRiUs-PaDfOoT-bLaCk23451 (Holy shiz. After all this time I should know how to type your pen name, but it still takes me fifteen minutes *dramatization*and then I somehow mess up which letters are supposed to be caps!), elbs, roflshvuakomail, and MayFairy!

Some of you who review regularly, as in ever since The Story of a Bullying Toerag and His Lily Flower (who came up with that insane name? oh…I did) that have pen names that aren't common words (basically if your pen name shows up with that annoying red squiggly line…=.=) are now in my dictionary on Word. Don't you feel special =]

That was one looooong sentence with two parts in parentheses. I have a rambling problem…

***SEE END OF CHAPTER FOR SUMMARY OF PREVIOUS CHAPTERS***

Red

Chapter 7

_Last chapter…_

_"Severus, you've finally arrived. Any news from the Dark Lord?"_

"Indeed there is. We will be given work to do here soon. But that is all I can say at the given time."

"What was the initiation like?"

I could hear the smirk in the speaker's voice. "Thrilling. Its exhilarating when you are officially one of his followers, and have the certified status of a Death Eater. I'm not just some 'wanna be' whose still at school anymore."

Remus's terrified eyes met mine. I gripped onto his arm tighter, and bit my lip to keep from screaming. Severus Snape was a Death Eater.

I had always known that he was interested in the Dark Arts. But I had thought it a harmless interest; more that he was fascinated by it rather than wanted to pursue it. But he started making friends that were…questionable, at best, and I kept trying to steer him onto the right path. For years I could tell there was internal battle going on inside him between good and bad, and I had been trying to get him on the good side. In my fifth year I could tell that good was losing the battle, and that I was losing his friendship. I was always frustrated that he wouldn't listen to me when I told him about the dangers of being on Voldemort's side, but he would fight back and tell me the dangers of being against Voldemort. We were always very tense around each other, and eventually it just snapped when Snape called me a mudblood. After that, I was done trying to persuade him to stop following Voldemort.

And now, he was a Death Eater. And I was the only one to blame. I had given up on him, when I should have tried harder.

Snape started talking, his voice growing louder and quickening with every syllable as he talked of what it was like to work for Voldemort. The power, the authority, the supremacy gave one an exhilarating thrill that couldn't be compared to anything, he said. He went on and on, and after a few minutes, I had enough. I gave Remus's arm one last final squeeze, and put everything into it that I wanted to say to him but couldn't. He understood, gave me a brief hug before I left.

I walked briskly back to the school, the top row of my teeth clamped on top of my lower lip. I blinked rapidly, to keep the tears that threatened to fall inside where they belonged. My feet quickly covered ground as I broke out into a jog, then a run, then a full out sprint. I skidded into the halls of Hogwarts, gasping for breath. Then I found my favorite place to think, a hidden alcove with a window that looked out onto the grounds.

I had found it in my first year, when Potter had been teasing my about my hair, and then promptly blown it up with a potion that had 'accidently' set on fire. After which he had claimed that now my hair was really set on fire, and indeed it was. It had frizzed up and literally in flames. I had quickly fired an _agumenti_ at my head, and then at Potter's and dashed from the classroom with the laughter of the class chasing me out. I had ran blindly through the halls with tears obscuring my vision, until I found the quiet little alcove. I remained there throughout lunch, and had the courage to face Potter and my classmates at the next class after, Defense Against the Dark Arts.

From then on, I had always come there when I needed to think, or just get away from everyone. And it proved very useful, ad also very serene. It seemed no one knew about it, except me.

"Seventy-two bottles of beer on the wall, seventy-two bottles of beer. Take one down, pass it around, seventy-two bottles of beer. Seventy-three bottles of beer on the wall, seventy-three bottles of beer. Take one down, pass it around—"

My head whipped around when I heard the off-tune voice emanating through the halls. Potter was traipsing through the corridor, singing loudly as he twirled his wand between his fingers.

He headed right into my alcove, and his eyes widened when he saw me sitting on the window sill. I hung my head and quickly wiped the tears from my eyes, but I knew their rims would be red. I sniffed, and wiped my nose. Potter immediately picked up on it.

"Evans, are you—Jesus Christ you look terrible."

I just sent him a brief glance, hoping that he'd go away. Now I didn't really care about why he had to ditch rounds, I just wanted him to leave.

"Hey, wha…what happened?" he asked, sliding onto the window sill next to me. "You don't look so good…"

"Its nothing," I mumbled.

"Then why are you crying?"

"Because…I like to."

"Evans. It'll help if you told me."

"Severus is a Death Eater," I blurted.

James's eyes softened. "Evans, I…"

"I could have stopped him."

"No, don't think like that," he told me, gently slinging an arm around my shoulder. For once I didn't shrug it off. "It's his fault. Not yours."

I wiped my eyes. "I should have tried harder. But I gave up."

"No, it's not—" he sighed. "Where is he."

"Remus said he was taking care of them."

"_Them_?"

"Yeah. Severus and all the other aspiring Death Eaters. He's the only official one so far."

"I'll get Sirius to go help," he said, and started to dash off down the corridor. "You wait here," he added. "I think you need more help than anyone else."

And I did need more help, in reality.

He was back in a few minutes, sprinting back through the hall. "I got Sirius to go get Dumbledore."

I nodded slightly, keeping my head hung low so he wouldn't see my eyes.

"Listen, Evans," he began. "You can't think this is your fault. It's _his_ bad choice. You can't take the blame."

"But I could have prevented it!"

'No one could have, if he really wanted to that badly."

"But—"

"It's done. You can regret all you want, but it's not going to change anything. Just understand that it's not your fault, and move on."

XX

The next day I stayed I bed. Potter covered for me and said I was sick. I felt bad about lying, but I really did feel a little sick. But mostly I was still in shock. I thought about what Potter said. And I agreed.

It wasn't my fault.

It was his loss.

And I took no responsibility for his actions.

XX

Potter later reported that Dumbledore was unable to do anything about it. He had no evidence, and the Malfoys were too influential on the Board for anything to be done. He was quite repulsed at the absurdity of it all. I told Brittani about it when she came in to see how I was doing; she was under the impression I had a bad case of the flu, and the medication from Madam Pomfrey was ineffective

"I didn't think he'd go that far," she admitted.

"No one did. Otherwise we could've done something."

Brittani sighed. "Lils, you can't let this bring you down."

"I know. I already decided that it's not my fault. But still, I can't help but wish something could have been done."

XX

**Previously…Lily Evans is back for her seventh year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and has been appointed Head Girl. With just her luck, the person who irks her the most, James Potter, is Head Boy. He isn't as bad as she thought; fairly tolerable at best. They go to their first day of classes and she is his partner in Potions class. After Potter takes away her Transfiguration book, telling her that she doesn't know how to have fun and only studies, he forces Lily to go outside with him. He has her prove that she really can have fun by jumping in the lake. Later that day he proves that he really can't handle responsibility by skipping out on rounds. Lily goes to study with Jacob Dawson, the handsome, smart, quidditch captain from Ravenclaw, and quite enjoys his company. James is very irritated at something, and Lily picks up on this right away. He doesn't specify why he is so angry, though. He later admits that he is still irritated but decided he better just back out of the situation and let it be. Lily finds that Jacob can be quite possessive, but she decides that as long as he doesn't go too overboard, that she can deal with that. During rounds, Lily and Remus discuss the ever-growing threat of Voldemort, and the chapter ends with "****Severus, finally you've arrived. Any news from the Dark Lord?"**


	9. Chapter 8

AN: Thank you to my lovely reviewers: MayFairy, Veronica Willis, cara, Panamo, rolfshvuakomail, and Alphaxl662!

_**Sorry this is a little short, but I was outta town this weekend—which is when I write—until four in the evening on Sunday. Indianapolis for a dance competition on Friday and Saturday, and hospital in Chicago on Sunday to see my new twin cousins, Hunter and Sean =]**_

I looooove reading my reviews. Seriously. Keep em coming! **We made it to 50** and its only chapter EIGHT? You guys are amazing =]

And yes, rolfshvuakomail, your pen name is in my dictionary :D

_**Sorry this is a little short, but I was outta town this weekend—which is when I write—until four in the evening on Sunday. Indianapolis for a dance competition on Friday and Saturday, and hospital in Chicago on Sunday to see my new twin cousins, Hunter and Sean =]**_

***SUMMARY OF PREVIOUS CHAPTERS AT END OF CHAPTER***

Red

Chapter 8

"Brittani, I am afraid we have a problem," I announced as we strolled out of herbology.

"Joy."

"You were flirting with Black."

"I was _not!_" she exclaimed, giving me a look, and then ducking her head to hide a blush.

"Well, you're red cheeks beg to differ."

"It's just a little warm out here," she defended defiantly.

"It's late October," I pointed out.

"I know! I-I—ok. Fine. Maybe I was flirting just a little."

"And you have been for the past few weeks," I added.

"Well, I'm a girl, he's a boy, that's what we do!"

"For two straight weeks."

"So?"

"I think that counts for something. It's not just like one day when you feel extra…turned on. Its an ongoing occurrence which leads me to think that you fancy him."

"Me, fancy _Sirius Black_?" she cried incredulously.

I raised my eyebrows and shrugged. "Well, put two and two together."

Brittani didn't say anything for a moment until she burst out "Aughh, I didn't mean to be so obvious about it!"

"Wait—you—really? You do?"

"Yeah," she muttered.

"Since _when?_"

"Three weeks and six days—well that was when I noticed that I do," she recited automatically.

"Merlin. And I haven't noticed."

"Well, you've been studying in all your free time recently, or you're on rounds with Potter," she noted.

"I have to keep my grades up!" I cried, holding my hands up in defense.

"Your lowest grade is an E," she sorted at my need to have straight O's.

"I know. And I have to bring it up. But still…you and Black."

"Me and Brittani what?" Sirius asked loudly, striding up next to us.

"Oh, nothing, nothing, nothing," I replied airily.

"Oh, don't worry. I won't tell no one. I'm a good secret keeper."

Potter waltzed up next to us, and snorted obnoxiously. "That's a lie."

"Prongs, you're not really helping my case here," Sirius hissed.

"Who said I have to help your case?"

"Cause otherwise I'll do something like this—JAMES POTTER IS MADLY IN LUUUUUURVE WITH L—"

"Ok, Padfoot, I think that's enough!" Potter yelled over the sound of Sirius's booming voice as he covered Sirius mouth with his hand. Sirius let out a few grunts and tried to push Potter's hand away, but to no avail. Presently, Potter let out a strangled scream, pulled his hand away, and looked at his palm with the upmost horror written all over his face.

"He-he—" Potter stammered, unable to articulate a fully formed sentence. Potter gulped. "He _licked_ me!" he yelped. Sirius grinned.

"So I think you can tell me your secret now," he pestered.

"Nah," Brittani replied. "I don't think we can. You just started to yell a secret of James's. Who says you wont do that to me?"

"You can just trust me on that, love." I raised an eyebrow at his pet name for her, but kept my mouth shut.

"I won't take any chances."

"I'll find out anyway," he winked and then sauntered away with Potter in tow.

"Well, that was a close call," Brittani said.

"A bit too close," I agreed. "But really…Black?"

Brittani smiled, looking after his retreating form. "Yeah," she replied simply.

"He is so…immature, conceited, annoying—he _licked_ Potter, for Merlin's sake!"

Brittani laughed. "I would prefer to call him funny, good looking, and reasonably good natured. Plus, he actually cares about his friends."

"Love does have a tendency to blind one."

"Oh, like you don't know what I'm talking about. You and Dawson have been getting rather…_cozy_ in the library lately."

"Have not! We just study. That's all."

"Well, of course you study. You study each other. Are you meeting him tonight?"

"Yes," I admitted in an undertone. She shot me a satisfied smirk.

"Hah!" she exclaimed triumphantly.

XXX

"So you're leaving early."

"Yes, do you mind? I want to be on time."

"For your date?"

I sighed. "It is not a date, Potter. We're just studying."

I had told Potter of my plans with Jacob, and he had reacted not too favorably.

He snorted. "Right. And Snape has his own hair care line."

"Potter, can't you just finish the last ten minutes by yourself?"

"No," he objected bluntly.

"You've skipped rounds twice this year, I haven't at all; can't you just let me this once?"

He sighed. "Fine."

"Thank you," I said tersely.

"Why do you like him so much anyway?" he asked, sitting down for our usual break halfway through rounds.

"Well, I began, smiling in spite of myself. "He's kind, funny, conveniently good looking, intelligent—"

"Basically Mr. Perfect?" Potter interrupted.

"No," I admitted, my smile fading into a thoughtful frown. "He can be a little…possessive."

"Oh."

"But besides that, he's a good guy."

"I bet he is," Potter drawled drily.

I huffed. "What has he ever done to you?"

"Nothing, directly."

"Then why do you hate him so much?"

Potter didn't answer. He turned his head to face me, and a small frown line appeared between his dark eyebrows. His hazel eyes clouded over behind his thick framed glasses. An unrecognizable emotion flitted across his face, but was soon replaced with his usual lopsided smirk.

"I could ask you the same question about me."

"But I don't hate you!"

Potter chuckled. "I never got the impression you wanted to be best mates."

"That doesn't mean I don't hate you."

"Sure, sure, sure."

"What, do you want me to hate you?"

"No," he replied honestly.

"Alright then. But you still didn't answer my question about Jacob."

"He's an okay bloke; I guess I don't hate him. It's just that…he has something that I don't."

XXX

"I saw you with Potter," Jacob announced abruptly.

"We were doing rounds," I countered with a flat tone.

"Really? You two were sitting together, looking rather cozy."

"We were doing rounds," I repeated firmly.

"Do you have to?"

"Jacob. I'm Head Girl. It's part of the job."

"Can't you just make someone else do them?"

"No."

He opened his mouth to reply but shut it on a second thought.

"How was your day?" he asked with a dazzling smile.

"Fine," I replied shortly. "And yours?"

"It only got better when we met," he grinned.

I beamed back. "I agree."

XXX

It was only a matter of time, I thought until Jacob made a move. And if he did ask me out…well it would be hard to say no.

**Previously…Lily Evans is back for her seventh year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and has been appointed Head Girl. With just her luck, the person who irks her the most, James Potter, is Head Boy. He isn't as bad as she thought; fairly tolerable at best. They go to their first day of classes and she is his partner in Potions class. After Potter takes away her Transfiguration book, telling her that she doesn't know how to have fun and only studies, he forces Lily to go outside with him. He has her prove that she really can have fun by jumping in the lake. Later that day he proves that he really can't handle responsibility by skipping out on rounds. Lily goes to study with Jacob Dawson, the handsome, smart, quidditch captain from Ravenclaw, and quite enjoys his company. James is very irritated at something, and Lily picks up on this right away. He doesn't specify why he is so angry, though. He later admits that he is still irritated but decided he better just back out of the situation and let it be. Lily finds that Jacob can be quite possessive, but she decides that as long as he doesn't go too overboard, that she can deal with that. During rounds, Lily and Remus discuss the ever-growing threat of Voldemort, and the chapter ends ****with "****Severus, finally you've arrived. Any news from the Dark Lord?" Lily cant believe it, and feels horrible that she couldn't have prevented it. James manages to talk her out of believing it's her fault.**


	10. Chapter 9

AN: Shanks to my loverly reviewers: Veronica Willis, MayFairy, rolfshuvakomail, Loslote, anonymous, cara, and SiRiUs-PaDfOoT-bLaCk23451

Wellp, as promised here are the legacy story stats! (remember they're out every five chaps?)

_Words: 16,290; Chapters: 9 (eight and a prologue); Reviews: 62; Hits: 3425; Favs: 21; Alerts; 26_

Yep, we are lookin' good!

***SUMMARY OF PREVIOUS CHAPTERS AT END OF CHAPTER***

Red

Chapter 9

"Mate, with all of your experience with girls, you should know that you _never tell her you like her._"

"Yeah, Prongs, like you never told…_her_ that you fancy her."

"I haven't this whole year!"

"And how much progress have you made?"

"She doesn't hate me, and that's a start that I'm happy with."

"Wow. Bravo, Mr. Prongs."

"Here, let's take a vote. Who agrees with me that Padfoot here shouldn't tell his bird that he luuurves her? Moony?"

"I don't think I should get into this."

"Aw, c'mon Moonshine. You have to agree with me, Padfoot, the smartest bloke in the world when it comes to all things women!"

"Well, I just think you should treat her right—something you are incapable of doing, Padfoot—and be honest."

"So who do you agree with?"

"I said what I needed to. I don't need to agree with anyone."

"Fine then. Wormy, what do you think?"

"I—I dunno. I don't really know much about girls…"

"You must have been with one bird before!"

"Well…"

"Oh Merlin, Wormy."

"Once, in my second year…"

"That doesn't count. You know what? I'm going to tell her if I want to."

"Pads, you're going to look like a bloody idiot."

"What else is new, Prongs."

"True, moonshine, true."

XXX

This time Potter had supposedly been called home on some urgent family business, So I was left alone to do rounds. Again. This was what, the third time? Fourth? Either way, that was way too many times. But being the more mature one, I decided to let it slide, yet again, and not make a big fuss out of it. Besides, he obviously had some good reason if it was enough to be called home.

I shuffled through the corridors, yawning and checking the time occasionally. 10:18. 10:52. 11:39. The minutes felt like hours. I tried to find something to entertain myself with as I wandered seemingly pointlessly through the stone cold silent halls. I started to plan out my essay for Ancient Runes, but I realized I needed my textbook for that. Then I thought of my family and what they were doing at this hour—probably sleeping. Then I counted all the suits of armor I could find as I wandered through the passages. 12:02. Who came up with the idea of doing rounds, anyway? Whoever did was an idiot. Honestly, just set up some spell that detects motion or something, and let the poor prefects and Heads get some rest. I guess its like a punishment for being a person of authority.

I was getting bored out of my mind just drifting through the halls, so I took a detour outside. The full moon cast a bright eerie light across the grounds, illuminating the tips of the grass and the surface of the rippling lake. Feeling at ease, I took off my shoes and socks, dropped them on the ground, and perched of the edge of the dock, letting my feet dangle in the cold water. All was still, quiet and peaceful. The giant squid raised a lazy tentacle above the water, almost as a greeting.

The tranquil silence was broken by a unnatural howl. Cold, shrill, and blood curdling, it reverberated through the cool air. I shivered despite my warm sweater and scarf. My head snapped in all directions, trying to discern where the call was coming from, all the while rising slowly from my spot on the deck and grabbing my shoes and socks. I started slowly back to the castle, my mind yelling "GO!" but my feet seemed to be numb and unable to move. The howl sounded again, only this time distinctly louder and to my right. My feet took a few small steps before I heard the sound of sticks breaking, and something (or something_s_) trampling through the woods. Then I started to run.

But I was too late.

Out of the forest flew a large wolf, with a tufted tail, huge eyes that seemed yellow at first glance, rippling mussels, and dripping fangs. He was panting, and his chest heaved as he gasped for air. Following him was a large black, disheveled, dog that was limping and bleeding from his right shoulder. And after him, a magnificent white stag that seemed to be shining as much light as the moon itself, with a rat swinging precariously from one branch of his antler. It was quite the parade.

But I didn't really have time to reflect of the weirdness of it all, as much as I wished I did.

I picked up my pace instantly, skirting to the wood on the other side, as to get away from view.

Too late.

The wolf realized that I was there immediately, and his haunches snapped back as he lunged towards me. The stag, however, stood still and looked at me. I saw him shake his head slightly, and then he and the dog chased after the wolf, tackling him and scratching at his coat. The wolf snarled, but in an almost friendly way, but slightly annoyed. Not defensive or angry in the least. He quickly threw them off and started towards the part of the forest that I had entered, but the others were fast at his heels.

I continued to sprint through the woods, ignoring the twigs and the brambles that tore at my skin and clothes. I turned my head back every now and then, trying to see if the wolf was still in sight. He was. He was growing nearer and nearer, and I was getting more frantic and started to stumble on things more easily. After one hard look, I realized something that made my heart beat five times more faster; the sound of it pounding flooding my ears.

That wasn't a common timber wolf.

It was a werewolf.

The tail, eyes, snout, it all made sense. Along with the addition of the full moon, all seemed to be screaming werewolf. I tore through the woods faster and faster, and concluded that trying to lose him wasn't working, and I had best get out of the Forbidden Forest and onto the grounds, where I could run easier. With another glance behind me, I saw that the dog and the stag were trying to distract the wolf, to throw him off; by jumping on top of him, and biting and scratching him. He shook them off presently, and continued to chase after me.

I was seriously screwed.

He was much faster than me on foot But I doubted he had ever swam in werewolf form. I kicked off my shoes as I ran to the lake, and dove in. The wolf chased after me, following onto the dock. When he realized what was below him, he skidded to a stop, paws flailing everywhere as he tried to halt. He did just in time, and for a moment I was safe.

AN: so this is late, and cruelly short. I'm soooooo sorry. I had a writers block this whole week; you wouldn't believe how much I had to rewrite. But next week, I'll update for sure on Sunday as I usually do.

**Previously…Lily Evans is back for her seventh year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and has been appointed Head Girl. With just her luck, the person who irks her the most, James Potter, is Head Boy. He isn't as bad as she thought; fairly tolerable at best. They go to their first day of classes and she is his partner in Potions class. After Potter takes away her Transfiguration book, telling her that she doesn't know how to have fun and only studies, he forces Lily to go outside with him. He has her prove that she really can have fun by jumping in the lake. Later that day he proves that he really can't handle responsibility by skipping out on rounds. Lily goes to study with Jacob Dawson, the handsome, smart, quidditch captain from Ravenclaw, and quite enjoys his company. James is very irritated at something, and Lily picks up on this right away. He doesn't specify why he is so angry, though. He later admits that he is still irritated but decided he better just back out of the situation and let it be. Lily finds that Jacob can be quite possessive, but she decides that as long as he doesn't go too overboard, that she can deal with that. During rounds, Lily and Remus discuss the ever-growing threat of Voldemort, and the chapter ends ****with "****Severus, finally you've arrived. Any news from the Dark Lord?" Lily cant believe it, and feels horrible that she couldn't have prevented it. James manages to talk her out of believing it's her fault. Brittani admits that she fancies Sirius, and Lily is expecting Jacob to make a move on her soon.**


	11. Chapter 10

AN: **I apologize if this chapter has a different…tone, I guess you could call it; I'm a little angry at the moment because of my wonderfully amazing and supportive family *note the extreme sarcasm* Gosh, I'll be glad when I can get out of here next week.**

So glad that the Nole won the final =] he's a great guy and deserves to be ranked No. 1-not to mention fudging hilarious.

Thanks to my reviewers!: Loslote, LadyLupin98, MayFairy, rolfshuvakomail, Panamo, and cara!

Yeah, I just noticed that I posted the legacy story stats one chap too early… 0.o sorry, I lost my sanity a long time ago…

Red

Chapter 10

XXX

_He_ [the werewolf]_ was much faster than me on foot But I doubted he had ever swam in werewolf form. I kicked off my shoes as I ran to the lake, and dove in. The wolf chased after me, following onto the dock. When he realized what was below him, he skidded to a stop, paws flailing everywhere as he tried to halt. He did just in time, and for a moment I was safe._

XXX

For a moment.

The water pulled me down into its icy depths, and the weight of my bulky sweater and scarf was not helping my predicament. I treaded the best I could, but it was a losing battle. It was just too cold—I was surprised that it had not frozen yet—and my clothes were dragging me down.

The wolf waited impatiently on the dock, snarling and snapping his dripping jaws at me. The dog and stag again tried to divert him by pouncing on him and scratching and biting him playfully, but was not taking the bait. The dog ran off, and later I heard a long, sorrowful howl at which the werewolf perked up its ears and bounded off eagerly, forgetting the nice meal that was waiting for him in the water. I swam over to the edge of the water as fast as I could—which turned out to be pretty slowly—and once I got to the shore realized that I was numb from head to toe. The wolf wasn't in sight. I sat there for a few moments until I stood up and stated back to the castle. I was turning in circles as I walked quickly across the grounds to enable myself to see if the werewolf was coming back. I lost my footing on a protruding branch and stumbled backward. There was a sickening crunch, and I winced as pain flooded through my ankle. I tried to stand back up, but fell down again because of my ankle which could bear no weight. I was able to only crawl pathetically along the frosted ground. I heard the sound of only two feet pounding rhythmically on the ground. I turned around to see a familiar form racing towards me. The moonlight illuminated the distinct features, dark black hair, bold eyes, defined jaw, and tall frame.

"Lemme help you, Evans," Sirius Black offered as he stooped to pick me up. "You ok?" he added.

I shook my head no.

"You don't look it," he admitted. "Your lips are blue, your face is gray, you're sopping wet and freezing cold."

"Magic," I croaked out.

"Eh?"

"_Magic,"_ I said, only a few decibels louder.

"Right!" he said, as we neared the castle. He was still running, and glancing periodically behind him. "As soon as I can reach my pocket, Evans."

I nodded feebly. We were in the security of the castle within seconds of another shrill howl. Sirius stooped and let me down on the floor, and I sat with my knees to my chest as he fished in the pocket of his robes for his wand.

"Here we are," he announced triumphantly, pulling out his wand. He then cast a heating and drying spell on me. I felt a wave of gratitude and warmth wash over me.

"Thanks," I said, meaning every bit of it.

"Anytime, love. Let's get you back up to your dorm." He held out his hand. I took it gently, and he pulled me up and didn't let go. I thought this might be what it feels like to have a big brother. I smiled to myself.

"I bet you're wondering exactly happened back there."

I was. "I am," I replied.

"And I bet you're expecting me to tell you."

"I am," I repeated.

"But I won't. Well, at least not now."

And I was okay with that, because at the moment I was glad just to be safe, and didn't really want to have to be pressed with the whole story—which I had a feeling would be a long one. "Its alright. I will want to know sometime, though."

"And you probably will know sometime."

"thanks again, Sirius. I don't really want to know what would have become of me if you hadn't been there."

His expression clouded over. "Yeah," he replied noncommittally. "But we don't have to worry about that," he told me, and the storm on his face was pushed over by the sun as he smiled.

XXX

The next morning I woke up feeling terrible. My head hurt, my back was sore, and my left ankle throbbed with a dull pain. I groaned and swung my stiff legs out of bed. Trying to not put any pressure on my ankle, I hobbled into the bathroom.

I looked like a bloody nightmare.

My hair was disheveled, my eyes had purple bags underneath them, and there were various scratches on my cheeks and a bruise above my right eye. I had never used any glamour charms, and the only makeup I had was a tube of mascara. It looked as if I was stuck.

Getting dressed was a battle. My ankle refused to cooperate, and I ended up lying on my bed trying to pull on my skirt. My tights were next, and after that my shoes. I pulled on my right flat with ease, but the left would not go on. My foot was too swollen. I grudgingly put an enlargement charm on my shoe, and then shoved my foot inside. I grabbed my bag and limped out of my dorm, thinking that I probably couldn't go through the whole week or two—or however long it would take for my ankle to heal—like this. I wanted to try and do something about it, but I hadn't even a proper diagnosis. So I decided I would see how it felt at the end of the day, and if it was still causing me trouble I would go to Madam Pomfrey with some made up story of how I hurt it.

Throwing open the door in an agitated hurry, I shuffled out of my room. I had thirteen and a half minutes to get down five flights of stairs and through seven corridors to get to my first class—I had already decided I hadn't the time for breakfast.

Potter was pacing our common room, running his hand through his hair and muttering to himself. His head jerked up when he heard me open the door, and a grin lit up his ace. He crossed the room quickly and enveloped me in an unexpected hug.

I had never hugged Potter before.

I awkwardly wrapped my arms around him as well and he stood there for a bit, not letting go.

"Merlin, Lily, I was afraid you were…"

"What?"

"I didn't see you in here for a while, and I was waiting up for you but I never saw you come. I was too afraid to go into your room and check to see if you were still…there and…a-alive," he said shakily into my hair. I stood there dumbfounded, not knowing what to say.

He sighed. "I suppose I have some explaining to do," and let his arms fall to his sides.

"Well explain later; we have classes to get to."

He dismissed that with the wave of a hand. "Nah, I already cleared it with McGonagall. You're skipping your first class and we're getting notes from Remus."

I felt at ease, knowing that the handsome studious boy would be taking notes; he was best qualified for the job since we often compared notes and he would know what information I would like and how I would want it to be taken down.

"Sit down," he instructed, motioning to the spot next to him. I obeyed.

"So last night," he began but cut himself off with a sigh. "Last night," he started again. "I wasn't actually called away. I was here the whole time. Because of a friend who needed my help.

"That werewolf who was chasing you? Remus. He said I could tell you, and apologized for the fact that he couldn't get himself to tell you. And he apologized for what happened last night. And for being too much of a wuss to never be able to tell you," he grinned a bit at the last part. "I added the last one."

He was a quiet for a second and I thought over what he had said. Remus was a werewolf. I supposed that if I had really thought about it, I would have been able to figure it out. But the thought never occurred to me.

"You won't—I—what do you think about it?" Potter asked.

"What do I think? I think that its terrible how someone so—so kind, so gentle, so caring has to be cursed."

Potter sighed with relief. "Ok. I agree. So. We figured out that Remus was a werewolf in our second year. He used to rip himself apart in the Whomping Willow because there was nothing else to distract himself with. He would come back in shreds, barely hanging on. So in our what, fourth year? We did something about it. We became animagi. Sirius's a dog, I'm a stag, and Peter is a rat—that's where our nicknames came from. We go to the Whomping Willow every full moon—Peter presses a knot that freezes the branches and we can all go in. Sirius and I distract Remus while Peter looks out for Madam Pomfrey or anyone else wandering around on the grounds. I dunno why he was slacking so much last night; so far nothing like that has ever happened.

"So when I saw you, I freaked out. I was so afraid something would happen to you—you'd get bitten or k-killed…Sirius went off to make the wolf call, and then I urged Remus to follow. I managed to keep him there by myself for about an hour, until he dashed off suddenly. And then I lost him.

"You wouldn't believe how afraid I was that something had happened to you. I-I don't think I could have lived with myself if I had let Remus get out of control—"

"Potter, it's fine. I'm ok."

"You're not angry?"

I grinned. "No, Pot-James. I'm not. I'm amazed at how much risk you'd take for a friend, and the amount of loyalty you have—"

James laughed. "I not all that great, Ev-Lily. Lily. Huh. Your name is nice."

I laughed with him. "Thank you, James."

James. His name was nice too. I had never called him by his first name before. He had never called me Lily, either. It felt nice to say it. It was such a…friendly, good-natured, pleasant kind of name.

Just like him.

XX

**Previously…Lily Evans is back for her seventh year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and has been appointed Head Girl. With just her luck, the person who irks her the most, James Potter, is Head Boy. He isn't as bad as she thought; fairly tolerable at best. They go to their first day of classes and she is his partner in Potions class. After Potter takes away her Transfiguration book, telling her that she doesn't know how to have fun and only studies, he forces Lily to go outside with him. He has her prove that she really can have fun by jumping in the lake. Later that day he proves that he really can't handle responsibility by skipping out on rounds. Lily goes to study with Jacob Dawson, the handsome, smart, quidditch captain from Ravenclaw, and quite enjoys his company. James is very irritated at something, and Lily picks up on this right away. He doesn't specify why he is so angry, though. He later admits that he is still irritated but decided he better just back out of the situation and let it be. Lily finds that Jacob can be quite possessive, but she decides that as long as he doesn't go too overboard, that she can deal with that. During rounds, Lily and Remus discuss the ever-growing threat of Voldemort, and the chapter ends ****with "****Severus, finally you've arrived. Any news from the Dark Lord?" Lily cant believe it, and feels horrible that she couldn't have prevented it. James manages to talk her out of believing it's her fault. Brittani admits that she fancies Sirius, and Lily is expecting Jacob to make a move on her soon. Out on rounds by herself, Lily is cornered by a vicious werewolf and has nowhere to go and seemingly no means of escape.**


	12. Chapter 11

AN: Thanks to my wonderful reviewers: MayFairy, ShootinStar, cara, Loslote, Alpha's Opinionated Law, and I'm-amazing-deal-with-it. You all are awesome!

Sorry its been two weeks; I was gone all week last week at a University. I also might be away from my hp next week but I think I still will be able to write.

Did anyone else go to Deathly Hallows part 2 at midnight? It was BRILLIANT!

***SEE END OF CHAPTER FOR SUMMARY OF PREVIOUS CHAPTERS***

Red

Chapter 11 (I think)

"You don't look too good," Jacob commented as he surveyed my appearance.

"Why, thanks Jacob," I sighed.

"No, I didn't mean it like that," he laughed a little. "I mean you have bags under your eyes, there are scratches all over you and you have a black eye. _And_ you're limping. What happened to you?"

"I fell down the stairs."

"Well, that's understandable, but can the stairs really do all _that_?" he questioned, gesturing to my body with a dramatic wave of his hand.

I laughed weakly. "I guess so."

"Nothing else happened."

"Nope, just those nasty stairs…"

"Then a simple healing spell should do the trick," he reasoned, drawing his wand out from his back pocket.

"No, don't bother," I put in hurriedly. Since they were actually wounds from Remus in his full moon form, they wouldn't heal with a "simple healing spell". They need advanced magic. The kind provided by Madam Pomfrey, but I wasn't sure she would be too happy to hear _how_ I got such bad wounds.

"You sure?" he asked, looking at me with concern written all over his face.

"Positive," I flashed a smile. "So, ready for the big the match this weekend?"

Jacob grinned. "I think we can win this one. Potter is going down," he sneered. "Let's just say that if all goes according to plan, he won't be able to walk for a few days, let alone score."

What scared me is that he said it perfectly seriously. "You're not going to injure him are you?"

He shrugged. "A win is a win, and we'll do whatever we can to get that win. How we get there is of no importance."

"You're kidding. Right?"

"Does it look like it?"

"No, and that is what's scaring me."

XXX

Defense Against the Dark Arts went on and on. Professor McGillicuddy had been out for a week, and our substitute could not have been more boring. We had read and then discussed the chapter every day she had been gone. It was a big change, since McGgillicuddy favored hands-on teaching, so we barely ever read our textbooks—especially since we had been going over dueling recently.

I was sure that Sirius and James were asleep, as well as two other Hufflepuff students. I was the only one participating in discussion, and was eager to pass the duty of answering questions onto someone else so I could just rest my eyes for a bit. My eyes roamed over the class to find any kind of capable candidate for the job. It was then that I noticed that Sirius and James weren't there. The professor hadn't noticed either; he was still reciting the text to us. I bit my lip to keep from grinning. Class would sure get interesting soon.

From behind the professor popped up Sirius and James. They held one pointer finger up to their mouths and motioned for us to keep quiet.

James took out his wand and twirled I around in the air; forming letters that appeared on the chalk board. _Everybody start sniffing each other. Just trust me on this one._ the words he wrote said. We all obeyed, and leaned over to our neighbor and sniffed expiramentaly. The outcome was hilarious, and some people let out a few giggles. The professor frowned at us all.

"What are you—"

_STOP!_ James's wand flew frantically through the air. We all sat still and looked at the professor innocently.

"Ah, right," he said. "Where was I…"

_Perfect. Poking war starting NOW!_

Everyone began to jab their neighbor with their index finger while the professors eyes darted around frantically.

"Please, get it together class," he said. James nodded from behind him and we stopped.

_Very good. Now scream on the count of three._ He held up one finger, then two, then—

"AGHHHHHHHHHHHH!" the entire class shrieked. The professor let out a yelp at the outbreak of noise and dropped his book. Sirius stealthily caught it and crept back to his spot at the chalkboard behind the professor.

"Class, please," he said shakily. "You need to—where is my book?" he asked sharply. He searched all around him and when he turned around to look, Sirius and James ducked as Sirius tossed it deftly to the Hufflepuff catcher sitting in the back of the class who caught it expertly. While the professor searched around at his feet, Sirius popped up and motioned for the catcher to throw it out the window. The catcher turned around to look out the window that was right behind her, and seeing that the grounds were empty, dropped the book over the ledge. Sirius flashed hera grin and a wink, and he and James snuck back to their seats in the far corner of the room.

"Well, ah, it seems my book has…disappeared. Does anyone have one to lend to me?"

We all had ours stashed underneath our desks, but shook our heads 'no' anyway.

"Class dismissed early, read chapter—"

His words were cut off by the scraping of chairs on the floor as everyone flew out of their seats and out the door. Sirius and James were up at the front of the class talking to the professor in fake tones of sincerity.

"Really sorry you couldn't find your book professor—"

"Yeah, what a shame—"

"I can't imagine where I could have gone—"

"Yes, yes, well you two best get going," he replied hurriedly, ushering them out of the room. A hearty applause met them once they stepped through the doorway. They took a swooping bow, and grinned at their thankful classmates.

XX

I hurried down the steps down to dinner. I was already ten minutes late, because I thought I had lost my wand but it had all the while been tucked behind my ear. I rounded the corner, and Snape came into view.

I quickly diverted my eyes and tried to avoid confrontation. He rushed quickly towards me, his eyes locked onto me.

"Lily," he said as he neared me.

"Leave me alone," I muttered, shoving past him.

"No wait—"

'"Don't make me hex you."

"I'm not a Death Eater," he blurted.

I froze in my tracks. I wanted to believe it. But I wouldn't let my hopes up only to have them crushed. "Prove it," I demanded.

He obligingly tugged up his shirtsleeve. His pale arm was plain, free of any polluting dark mark.

"How'd you…?"

"Someone talked me out of it."

"So you aren't a Death Eater?" I let the blooming hope seep into my voice.

His lips tugged upward as he sensed my happiness. "No."

"Sev, I knew you were smarter than that!" I cried, and enveloped his thin form in a hug. He tensed, but then loosely wrapped his arms around me as well. "I just can't believe it took you this long."

"Me neither."

"Are you in danger now that you quit?"

"No; got it all cleared with Dumbledore and he offered full protection."

I smiled. "I'm just…after all these years, I've been wanting for you to change ways and at the most critical time you pulled through."

XX

Everyone was down at breakfast late, taking advantage of the fact that it was Saturday and we didn't have any classes. Some people were still clad in pajamas, like Brittani. Everyone was relaxing, exhausted by their professor's load of homework. Even the professors seemed to be taking their time with the meal.

Brittani was on my left and James on my right, and the remaining marauders were sitting across from us, all in a row. James was trying to throw pieces of a biscuit into Sirius's mouth while Remus and Brittani tried to block his lobs and Peter and I watched in amusement. James threw a particularly high throw, and Sirius fell off his chair as he tried to get it. Everyone went into a fit of uncontrollable laughter.

Taking advantage of the distraction, James turned to me and opened his mouth hesitantly to speak. He ran his hand through his already messy hair.

"I, ah was wondering if you wanted to—"

"Hey Lils," Jacob interrupted abruptly. "Do you want to go to Hogsmeade with me this weekend?" He shot one smug look at James, and looked back at me expectantly for an answer. I hesitated for a moment. James's head was hung low, and I could see the tips of his ears growing red. His brows were knitted together, and his eyes seemed to be lit with fire. All the others had stopped laughing by now, and were rapidly looking back and forth from James to Jacob with astonished expressions.

"So?" he asked impatiently.

"Erm," My brain stalled. Did I? Of course I did. I had already decided that I liked him. So why was it so hard to answer? "Yes. I'd like that," I said faintly. I was still in a daze.

He grinned, and shot a look at James. "Great. I'll meet you at ten, yeah?"

"Yeah."

"It's a date."

It was. And for some reason, I wasn't as thrilled as I thought I would be. I mean of course, I still wanted to go—

Wait. Did I really want to?

Of course I did. Why not? Jacob was seemingly perfect. Nice, easy to talk to, handsome, smart, athletic; perfect boyfriend material. But then again, there was no such thing as perfection. Maybe there was something that I hadn't found out about him yet, some thing that didn't meet the eye, or that I was blind to, or—

I mentally slapped myself. Why did I just have to assume something was wrong? Couldn't I just be happy with such a great guy? Why did I have to be so suspicious when there was really no reason for me to be afraid?

I decided the best thing to do was just to not think about it. I smiled, came back to earth, and took up a conversation with Peter. I couldn't happen but notice how quiet James was being. He was stabbing his eggs murderously, and his sharp calculating eyes darted back and forth. His mouth started to form words, and he started talking to himself. I gave him a look, which he ignored. I then decided it would be best to leave him be.

When he had devoured his plate, he stood up with the same lethal expression. "Excuse me," he said in a deathly quiet voice. We watched him leave silently. He stalked through the doors shaking his head and running his hand through his hair while he punctuated the air with hand gestures. I supposed he was talking to himself again, and I voiced my suspicions.

"Yeah, all the geniuses do that," Sirius said with a wry smile. "He usually does it when he's really, well, worked up about something," he finished.

"Worked up about what?"

Sirius opened his mouth again but Remus cut him off with a sharp look. "Things," he quipped tersely.

Brittani and I exchanged looks. We were both lost in this conversation.

"So," Sirius began. "Excited for the match this weekend?"

Brittani readily answered. I smiled; Sirius had been talking to her more recently, and it was obvious to me that he fancied her too. It wouldn't be long until Brittani had a Hogsmeade date as well.

XX

**Previously…Lily Evans is back for her seventh year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and has been appointed Head Girl. With just her luck, the person who irks her the most, James Potter, is Head Boy. He isn't as bad as she thought; fairly tolerable at best. They go to their first day of classes and she is his partner in Potions class. After Potter takes away her Transfiguration book, telling her that she doesn't know how to have fun and only studies, he forces Lily to go outside with him. He has her prove that she really can have fun by jumping in the lake. Later that day he proves that he really can't handle responsibility by skipping out on rounds. Lily goes to study with Jacob Dawson, the handsome, smart, quidditch captain from Ravenclaw, and quite enjoys his company. James is very irritated at something, and Lily picks up on this right away. He doesn't specify why he is so angry, though. He later admits that he is still irritated but decided he better just back out of the situation and let it be. Lily finds that Jacob can be quite possessive, but she decides that as long as he doesn't go too overboard, that she can deal with that. During rounds, Lily and Remus discuss the ever-growing threat of Voldemort, and the chapter ends ****with "****Severus, finally you've arrived. Any news from the Dark Lord?" Lily cant believe it, and feels horrible that she couldn't have prevented it. James manages to talk her out of believing it's her fault. Brittani admits that she fancies Sirius, and Lily is expecting Jacob to make a move on her soon. Out on rounds by herself, Lily is cornered by a vicious werewolf and has nowhere to go and seemingly no means of escape. Her knight in shining armor comes in the form of a shaggy dog, who later turns out to be Sirius in his animagus form. All things are explained. Remus is a werewolf. The remaining three marauders are all animagi; James the stag, Sirius the dog, and Peter the rat. During the full moon they go out to be with Remus and distract him from the pain of transformations (the tranformations themselves are painful and he had also taken to harming himself because there was simply nothing else he could do.) Lily is impressed at their devotion and loyalty to their friend.**


	13. Chapter 12

AN: Thanks to: MayFairy, ShootinStar, rolfshuvakomail, Loslote, Rabekah, SiRiUs-PaDfOoT-bLaCk23451, and TalonsandTealeaves for reviewing!

I got a twitterrrrr! I haven't posted yet (YET), but as soon as I get a few followers you might hear from me. It would just feel weird posting when no one is reading it. I won't bore you with the facts of my mundane life; _this will be more for FFic stuff_. /M_F_98

Oh my gosh. You can make smiley faces on Word by using the : and ) or (. holy crap. I JUST FOUND THAT OUT. And I've been using Word since third grade. Am I the only one who didn't know that? Are there more you can do?

Sorry I got a little sidetracked…

***SEE END OF CHAPTER FOR SUMMARY OF PREVIOUS CHAPTERS***

Red

Chapter 12

(Ok. I'm done now.)

Hogesmeade with Jacob as everything I expected it to be, and more. He was perfect; polite, funny, kind. It was the dream first date. Brittani was probably as excited as I was, she cornered me the next morning and demanded all the details which I relayed to her.

James was still mad about whatever happened. He talked rarely, ate nothing, showed up to class rarely—but never missed an exam, and still managed to get good marks. He had also skipped rounds for a week but then apologized and suggested that we both do rounds, but go on separate paths because it would "save time". I knew that was a falsehood, but I decided to let it be and agreed. I hadn't talked to him for days, and to be honest I kind of…missed James. Brittani picked up on the change of my usually high spirits, and asked me what was wrong, to which I replied that it must have been the gloomy weather just reflecting on myself. I then flashed her a weak smile, but I could tell she could sense something was still wrong. She continued to ask about it, but I had reassured her every time that all was well.

I wanted the old James back.

So I went to talk to him. It had been a week and a half, and I was tired of his moping around and I also just simply missed him. I didn't find him in his room, so I went to ask Sirius where he was.

"James?" Sirius said.

I confirmed with a nod.

He looked at me with a moment, his eyebrows furrowing together. He looked to be contemplating something. I let him think for a second. He looked a little irritated. "Why do you want to talk to him?"

"Because I haven't in a while and I miss him," I admitted. It felt strange to say that out loud.

He nodded, but said no more. Then suddenly, "He—he really cares for you, you know?" he asked, his voice strained. He stared directly into my eyes, searching for something.

"He what?"

"James," Sirius began. "He cares for you. And when you go off with some other—" he stopped abruptly. "Listen. He just doesn't want you to get hurt. He cares too much. Just remember that. If he's mad, it's because—" he sighed. I think he was in some kind of internal struggle. "He's flying around the pitch. Left a half hour ago, will probably be there for a while."

"Thanks, Sirius."

"Remember what I said."

"Yeah, I will…" I replied faintly.

I didn't know what to think.

XX

I tried not think about what Sirius said as I walked down to the pitch. It was a struggle. It was like when someone tells you not to think about a red monkey, and the only thing you can think about is a red monkey. Except it was much harder than that.

I found James zooming around the pitch at a breakneck speed. He flew loop de loops, practiced dives, and twirled around in the air seamlessly. I watched in awe, not knowing that _anyone _could be that good, let alone a unprofessional seventeen year old. He kept at it for five minutes or so, until he noticed that I was there. He drifted to the ground slowly, and dismounted.

"Lily."

"James. Er—"

"What are you doing here?" he asked sharply.

"I came to see you," I said. My words sounded loud compared to the silence that followed—like I had screamed them, instead of half whispered. There was only the occasional hoot of an owl to be heard, and the lapping of the partially frozen water on the shoreline of the lake. There were no bugs to hear, since it was fall and there were none left. The silence was unbearable.

"What do you want?" he demanded.

I shrugged lamely. I suddenly couldn't think of a thing to say. This seemed to put him on edge, and he frowned and ran a hand through his already windswept hair. "Then why are you still here?"

I bit my lip. "I—I don't know."

He snorted, and brushed past me, jarring my shoulder as he passed.

"James!" I called to him as he stormed into the castle, the back of his robes billowing behind him. The sky opened up and the rain poured, the thunder pounded and a strike of brilliant lightning slashed through the grey, angry sky.

"James!" I cried again and ran to catch up to him. The wind whipped through my hair, and the freezing rain plastered it to my face. My heels kicked up mud as I ran, lightning lighting up the heavens. I planted myself right in front of him. He stopped walking, but he was so close to me that I could feel his chest rise and fall beneath his sodden robes. I felt I couldn't breathe.

"What do you want, Lily?"

"I want the old James back. The one who isn't like _this_," I told him.

He was silent.

"What's wrong?" I asked him. "Why are you acting like this?"

He still didn't say anything. He just stared at me, searching me hungrily with his eyes. Then, "I can't say."

Unintentionally, I reached out and gave him a hug. He jumped a little, but his arms wrapped around me as well. We stood like that for a while. Just the two of us, and the rain.

XX

_I just cared too much. I couldn't see her with him. It drove me crazy. So I backed off. And when she came up to me and asked what was going on, I couldn't bare it. She must have cared a little, didn't she? But Of course she did. She was Lily bloody Evans, and she cared about everyone and everything and was just so bloody amazing and kind and brilliant at the same time. And she was with _Dawson_? It was unbelievable how _he_ could get with her. But that was beside the point. She wanted the "old James" back, and if that's what she wanted, I would give it to her._

XX

From that point forward, it was like nothing had happened. It was almost like déjà vu, because the only time I had ever seem James so irritated was when I first started to talk to Jacob, and now this was when we started to date. James denied that these two were related, so I believed him.

XX

It was almost the end of term, and the professors and students were all feeling it. The professors piled on the work and rushed to get all the material covered before the end of term exams. Somehow the marauders seemed to have time to pull pranks and be, well, the marauders. Although none of them really studied—save for Remus—so I supposed they didn't have much else to do besides quidditch and pranking, but Remus seemed to be crumbling under the workload and all the marauding activities. I felt bad for the bloke, so I offered to study with him. After all, Brittani wasn't a favorite of studying and spent a lot of time on the quidditch field, so I was often left studying alone. Of course I could study with Jacob but…he ended up turning study sessions to snogging sessions. So I studied in the Heads common room to avoid having to study with him, and ended up turning it into my own little library that I shared with Remus. He turned out to actually be a very good study partner; he stayed focus and was willing to work together. We answered each other's questions gladly.

Jacob, however, was not so fond of my closer friendship with Remus. Brittani said his jealousy was just a sign of him being concerned for our relationship, but I thought that he should be able to trust me with other guys. But whenever I was studying with Remus, doing rounds with James, taking a walk with Sirius, or helping Peter with a Potions essay, he would always question me afterwards. It was obvious that he didn't trust me. I was disappointed.

He also became forceful all the time. I had told him that I wasn't much of a fan of PDA—a hug or a swift kiss on the cheek was fine—but he would try to snog me senseless during breakfast, while James would loudly order us to get a room and I would pull away and send everyone an apologetic glance. He would try to grab me when I was walking by in the hallway and it hurt. He wanted to be able to kiss me whenever he wanted. But I didn't want to do that. He was convinced I was embarrassed of him, and didn't want to be seen with him. I assured him that wasn't true, and he would counter me with the question of why didn't I want to kiss in the hallways? I told him that people just don't _do_ that—well the sensible ones didn't, anyway. It was just the polite thing to do people didn't want to be seeing that. He still was unconvinced.

The worst was when we were having a conversation while he accompanied me on rounds, since James was out with Remus as it was the full moon. It started out innocent enough, and then he had suddenly taken an interest into my previous romantic expiriences, t something completely different.

"Why do you wear a purity ring?" he interrogated suddenly.

I was quite taken back. "I'm not having sex with you," I said blandly. He didn't say anything. "I'm waiting for marriage, and any guy can wait if he really loves me that much," I articulated clearly.

He gave me a look, a slightly weirded-out look. I returned it with a delicately raised eyebrow.

"I probably should go," he muttered and quickly turned around and hurried away. I sighed and kept on walking. I couldn't believe him. Was he really that superficial, that shallow? I almost considered—no. Best not make any rash decisions late at night when you're left alone with your deranged self.

Rounding the corner, I saw a familiar heading towards me. James Potter was limping towards me, stuffing something in his pocket that looked like a piece of parchment. He smiled when he saw me.

"Merlin, Evans, you're a sight for sore eyes," he joked. His grinning face was jarred by a long cut, that crossed his whole face. He was also holding a bloody shirt in his hand, leaving his chest bare. I tried to ignore the obvious lumps of muscle and focus on the cuts, the numerous cuts scattered across his chest and torso. Plus he was limping, and one pant leg was hitched up to his knee.

He noticed my wandering eyes, and reassured me "Don't worry, it's been much, much worse," he said with a faint grimace as came to a stop in front of me. "I'm fine. Just a little bloodied and bruised is all. And I might have twisted my ankle," he added as an afterthought. "But overall, I'm healthy as a horse."

I laughed weakly. "I think not, Mr. Potter. Let's get you fixed up, eh?"

"No, don't bother. They'll probably heal over night!" he said, excusing the battle wounds. "Sirius is who you should really worry about."

"No, James. I'm worried about you right now. I'll take care of him when I'm through with you, and Remus as well; maybe take some of the load off of Madam Pomfrey. And if Peter needs anything, I can help him as well."

James looked at me for a moment before breaking out into a brilliant smile. "You really are amazing, you know that, Lily?"

XX

AN: Woah, an author's note at the end of a chapter as well? I really can't shut up, can I? Anyway, three things I need to address.

Firstly, book recommendation for you all. I know that I've never done one of these before in any of my stories, but this one is pretty good. **The Curious Case of the Dog in the Night-Time** by Mark Haddon. Amazing. Go look it up, and buy it if you're interested.

Secondly, sorry I haven't updated enough in the month. I was on vacation and gone at a University and unable to write but I think in August things will calm down—but I will update next **Monday** instead of Sunday this week.

Finally, I know there was a small little bit of T material in here, but I felt it was necessary to characterize Jacob and Lily and their differentiating views on sex. Sorry if I offended anyone—although I think what I wrote was pretty safe—and that's about as far as their going to get on that level; I agree with Lily on waiting till marriage, and I won't be writing any of that.

That's it, folks. Thanks for reading and being so great!

XX

**Previously…Lily Evans is back for her seventh year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and has been appointed Head Girl. With just her luck, the person who irks her the most, James Potter, is Head Boy. He isn't as bad as she thought; fairly tolerable at best. They go to their first day of classes and she is his partner in Potions class. After Potter takes away her Transfiguration book, telling her that she doesn't know how to have fun and only studies, he forces Lily to go outside with him. He has her prove that she really can have fun by jumping in the lake. Later that day he proves that he really can't handle responsibility by skipping out on rounds. Lily goes to study with Jacob Dawson, the handsome, smart, quidditch captain from Ravenclaw, and quite enjoys his company. James is very irritated at something, and Lily picks up on this right away. He doesn't specify why he is so angry, though. He later admits that he is still irritated but decided he better just back out of the situation and let it be. Lily finds that Jacob can be quite possessive, but she decides that as long as he doesn't go too overboard, that she can deal with that. During rounds, Lily and Remus discuss the ever-growing threat of Voldemort, and the chapter ends ****with "****Severus, finally you've arrived. Any news from the Dark Lord?" Lily cant believe it, and feels horrible that she couldn't have prevented it. James manages to talk her out of believing it's her fault. Brittani admits that she fancies Sirius, and Lily is expecting Jacob to make a move on her soon. Out on rounds by herself, Lily is cornered by a vicious werewolf and has nowhere to go and seemingly no means of escape. Her knight in shining armor comes in the form of a shaggy dog, who later turns out to be Sirius in his animagus form. All things are explained. Remus is a werewolf. The remaining three marauders are all animagi; James the stag, Sirius the dog, and Peter the rat. During the full moon they go out to be with Remus and distract him from the pain of transformations (the tranformations themselves are painful and he had also taken to harming himself because there was simply nothing else he could do.) Lily is impressed at their devotion and loyalty to their friend. Lily finds out that Snape is not a Death Eater after all, and he has changed his ways. Jacob Dawson finally asks her out, and she says yes. But for some reason she is not as happy as she would have thought. James is irked by something, unknown to Lily and makes an effort to avoid her as much as possible.**


	14. Chapter 13

AN: Hello again! You may be thinking "WHAT HAPPENED TO MONDAY YOU LITTLE—" "Yeah yeah, I know. But I was drained from the weekend (craaaaazy tournament…came in second and missed nationals by one point *angry face*) and slept most of the day. Sorry sorry sorry!

Thanks to my reviewers who I really don't deserve: MayFairy, Loslote, rolfshuvakomail, and ShootinStar!

Red

Chapter 13

"And you're good to go," I finished with a sigh, looking at my work and feeling satisfied. I had cleaned all of James's minor cuts from the full moon only hours before that would heal by themselves, and healed—to the best of my abilities—the cut that had crossed his face. It was much worse than he let on, turning out to be an inch and a half deep over his left cheekbone. And it had started pussing by the time he had surrendered and let me look at it. Then I had diagnosed his ankle as sprained and fixed that as well.

"Thanks, Lils," he grinned, as I hurried off to help Sirius, who was still unconscious. I flashed him a smile over my shoulder as I hurried over to Sirius's still form. He turned out to be much worse than James, and Peter nervously recounted how he had been thrown against a tree and then slashed to pieces by Remus, and had been sliced dangerously close to one of his arteries. But he was still breathing, and thirty minutes later awake and joking around when I asked him to take his shirt off to heal the injuries there. Peter had a few injuries on him, but since his animagus was a rat, he couldn't really get into the action and thus, was never really wounded.

"Ok, everyone all healed up?" I asked. The three nodded; Remus had already fallen asleep. He hadn't let me heal any of his wounds, saying that touching his open flesh could cause some kind of infection on my part. I told him that he was being ridiculous, but he remained firm so I respected his wishes and put a sleeping charm on him. "Good. You all can stay here if you'd like," I offered. They accepted gratefully and made themselves at home on our couches. James remained there with them but I went back to my dorm, ready for a good night's sleep.

XX

The next morning came much too early for my liking, and I slammed my hand down on my alarm clock so hard that it fell off onto the floor. I groaned. Today I would be functioning off of three and three quarters of an hours sleep. I heard a loud noise coming from outside my room—it sounded like loud, obnoxious snoring. Then I remembered the marauders had spent the night in the common room, and it would most likely be my job to wake them up.

What a lovely start to my day.

I stumbled out of bed, tripped on the way to the door, tucking my wand up my shorts in case it was needed to wake up a heavy sleeper. The common room was a mess. Various bandage wrappings and leftover beakers of potions were strewn about the room. I'd have to remember to put all of that in the bin tonight. Peter was curled up in a chair, Sirius sprawled out of the couch with all his limbs hanging off the make shift bed, and James had taken the floor.

"Alright, everybody up!" I yelled, surveying the mess before me. Sirius gave a loud grunt and fell off the couch, but slept on. "How graceful," I murmured with a smirk. I decided to start with James, and proceeded to kick him gently enough so that I wasn't breaking any ribs, but hard enough to wake him up. He twitched, and kept sleeping.

"Merlin, teenage boys are impossible." I hit him with a tickling charm, and he awoke a squeak which immediately turned into uncontrollable peals of laughter. I snorted.

"Lil—Lily…haha…m-make it stop..hahaha…I can't b-b-breatheee…" he gasped between laughter. I grinned at his humorous predicament, and grudgingly murmured the counter curse.

"Wow, a tickling charm. I'm proud of you, Lily."

"Of, stuff it, Potter," I said rolling my eyes but grinning nonetheless.

"No, really!" he said earnestly. "I would have never thought of that. That is marauder worthy material."

"Well, thank you, James. I'm honored. Now take a shower, you smell like a dead animal."

He grinned widely. "You noticed! I knew you'd like that scent." I sighed and pushed him in the direction of the bathroom.

I went over to Peter and fired a flaccid stream of cold water on his forehead, causing him to wake up and splutter "I'm drowning! I'm dr—oh." he looked around embarrassedly with red glowing cheeks. I dried up the water running down his face. "If you want to eat breakfast and make it to class on time I'd suggest hurrying. We've got a little under forty five minutes till the first class," I told him. He nodded and hurried out of the dorm.

For some reason, I was afraid that Sirius would be the hardest to wake up. Maybe it was just because of the foreboding snoring, of the fact that he had fell on the floor and not even woken up. This would take a special spell, I decided.

"_Levicorpus_!"

Sirius was dragged up into the air by his left ankle, hanging upside down. His face was turning red and his was long hair barely touching the floor, and his shirt was falling down. He woke with a jolt, and shrieked. It was a very high pitched scream considering it was coming form Sirius Black.

"AAAIIEEEEE! WHY AM I UPSIDE DOWN? WHAT THE THE—"

I flicked my wand and he landed with a thud on the couch.

"Was that really necessary?" he asked, disgruntled.

"A thank you would be just fine," I said.

He grinned at me and shook the hair out of his eyes. "Thanks. Meet you and Prongs at breakfast?"

"As always," I replied. He turned to leave and opened the door to leave. I heard loud "Ow!" and a "Oh, Merlin, sorry," and went over to the door to see what happened.

A very red faced Brittani was looking up at an equally embarrassed Sirius who was standing but a centimeter away from her. I raised an eyebrow, smiling coyly.

"I, ah ran into—"

"Err, I accidently—" they spoke at the same time and stopped at the same time as well, and Sirius let out a shaky laugh. I raised the other eyebrow as well, nodded knowingly and decided I should leave them alone.

I walked into my dorm, and threw my uniform on and ran a brush through my hair; I only had a few minutes left until I should leave since I had to work as the human alarm clock that morning. I met James in the common room, and he started to the door to open it for me.

"Thanks," I said as we headed through the doorway.

"Are you one to bet?" James asked suddenly.

I grinned slyly. "It depends."

"If it's on two friends?"

"Keep talking," I encouraged, feeling like I had some idea of what he was talking about.

"I say that Sirius and Brittani will be together in two more weeks."

"As in what date? I'm not going to let you pull anything."

"You don't trust me?" James exclaimed.

"No," I said bluntly.

"Fine. As in December sixteenth."

"Well, I think they'll be together before then."

"Alright. If they're together before the sixteenth, you get twenty galleons. And if they're together after, then I get twenty."

"You got yourself a deal," I declared. I was sure I would win.

He promptly spit in his hand and held it out expectantly for me to shake. Unnerved, I spit I mine as well, three times, and shook his hand enthusiastically. He looked at me with a very surprised expression.

"Always full of surprises, you are," he laughed as he gripped my hand.

"I like to keep people on their toes." I hesitated for a moment, wondering if what I wanted to say was pushing it too far. "But how long do you think it will last?" I questioned, the playful tone of my voice sobering up as I spoke.

"I'm not sure about Brittani, but Sirius is pretty…serious about her, Pun intended."

"Really? He's never had a…stable…_real_ relationship. Well, that I know of."

"I know," James admitted wryly. "But he's never felt anything like how he does for Brittani. Usually he's smooth with the ladies—too smooth—but around Brittani he just can't seem to function. He said his heart stops and he feels like he's about to puke, and he babbles incoherently and feels like a bloody idiot. And that's a direct quote, mind you, I wouldn't come up with something that cheesy and stupid" he said with a faint smile playing on his lips.

"Brittani won't shut up about him. She really wants to give them a chance, being together. She thinks it really could work."

"Well, put the two of them together and they could be unstoppable," James said.

"Or a disaster," I said with a grimace.

James sighed. "Let's hope not."

"Hope for the best, but expect the worst," I quoted. He smiled at me.

"I'm still going to win this bet, though."

"No way. I think I know more about relationships than you do," I pointed out.

He tensed at this. "Yeah," he replied faintly. Then swiftly changed the subject to NEWTS, which I knew he actually didn't care about. But he didn't seem too keen on talking about my experience with relationships. This didn't bother me, I was sure they weren't that interesting anyway.

When we got to the Great Hall, Sirius and Brittani were already sitting down—quite cozily, I might add. I quirked an eyebrow at James, which he acknowledged with a brief nod.

"Good morning," he announced as he sat down across the pair. "You two look smashing today."

Sirius grinned. "I wish I could say the same about you mate," he teased with a bark of laughter.

"Well, maybe some people who aren't _blind_ would disagree. Lily?"

"What?" I asked, irritated.

"Do you think I'm good looking? Handsome? Cute? Hot? Sexy? So sexy that you—"

"James!" I cut him off quickly.

"Well?" he persisted, looking eagerly towards me for my reaction.

I sighed. "Are we really doing this?" I groaned.

"Yes. We are."

"Fine. Yes, James you are good-looking."

"Handsome?"

"Sure."

"Cute?"

"I guess."

"Hot?"

"Let's not go that far."

"Sexy?"

"No."

"So sexy that—"

"JAMES!"

He grinned triumphantly. Breakfast was over in a bit, and as we left I heard him whisper to Sirius fervently "Did you hear that? I'm making progress!"

"That you are, mate."

It would be helpful if I knew what he was referring to. I was left puzzled as he loped off with Sirius on the way to class, Brittani and I trailing behind them. I asked Brittani about Sirius and she blushed—which was a very un-Brittani like thing to do—and said that they had been talking a lot more recently, and that she definitely had feelings for him, and that she hoped that he might return them. I had to bite my tongue to keep from smiling. She was smart in quidditch moves, but she knew nothing about boys.

XX

The rest of the week and a half Brittani and Sirius had kept to themselves, leaving me to be a replacement marauder. I already studied a lot with Remus but really the only time I spent with James was during rounds. But still, I counted them as both friends and I actually didn't mind spending a lot of time with them-but no one compared to Brittani and I missed my best friend. But I knew that as soon as she and Sirius got together, they'd eventually have to calm down and things would get close to normal.

But Jacob didn't seem to like me spending even more time with the marauders. I told him that we were just friends, for Merlin's sake, and he didn't have to be so over protective. It was obnoxious and annoying. We ended up in our first real big fight, and I had screamed myself hoarse at the git, until Remus had come to my rescue and dragged me away before I could do anything rash.

"Ugh, I just can't _believe_ him sometimes!" I seethed as Remus sat me down in the library. He had told me that studying would take my mind off of things, but I was just too mad. "I mean, I can't say a bloody 'hello' to someone who gives me a smile without him having a bloody heart attack! I cant have friends that are guys! I can't have a bloody life!" I huffed. "Really, sometimes I still wonder why we're together," I finished quietly. "But then he reminds me why."

_But,_ I thought to myself, _more often than not I'm left wondering. But maybe I'm just overthinking things. What's not to love about him? He's kind, handsome, clever and smart, polite—_

_Who am I kidding. He's kind when he wants to be—which is when he knows I'm mad at him—and whenever he's angry his eyes look…eurgh. Just creepy. Smart? More of a smart arse. Polite when he feels like it—when he wants something._

_The right guy for me should always be kind, like James, when he—_

_WOAH._

_Am I using James as a model for my dream date? No. No, no, no, no. I definitely should _not _be thinking about this right no; as it seems I am temporarily out of my mind._

_James as the right guy for me? Even considering dumping Jacob? And I'm talking to myself—arguing with myself?_

_Yes, I am definitely going crazy, and when you are going crazy, it is not the right time to be contemplating these kinds of things._

XX

**Previously…Lily Evans is back for her seventh year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and has been appointed Head Girl. With just her luck, the person who irks her the most, James Potter, is Head Boy. He isn't as bad as she thought; fairly tolerable at best. They go to their first day of classes and she is his partner in Potions class. After Potter takes away her Transfiguration book, telling her that she doesn't know how to have fun and only studies, he forces Lily to go outside with him. He has her prove that she really can have fun by jumping in the lake. Later that day he proves that he really can't handle responsibility by skipping out on rounds. Lily goes to study with Jacob Dawson, the handsome, smart, quidditch captain from Ravenclaw, and quite enjoys his company. James is very irritated at something, and Lily picks up on this right away. He doesn't specify why he is so angry, though. He later admits that he is still irritated but decided he better just back out of the situation and let it be. Lily finds that Jacob can be quite possessive, but she decides that as long as he doesn't go too overboard, that she can deal with that. During rounds, Lily and Remus discuss the ever-growing threat of Voldemort, and the chapter ends ****with "****Severus, finally you've arrived. Any news from the Dark Lord?" Lily cant believe it, and feels horrible that she couldn't have prevented it. James manages to talk her out of believing it's her fault. Brittani admits that she fancies Sirius, and Lily is expecting Jacob to make a move on her soon. Out on rounds by herself, Lily is cornered by a vicious werewolf and has nowhere to go and seemingly no means of escape. Her knight in shining armor comes in the form of a shaggy dog, who later turns out to be Sirius in his animagus form. All things are explained. Remus is a werewolf. The remaining three marauders are all animagi; James the stag, Sirius the dog, and Peter the rat. During the full moon they go out to be with Remus and distract him from the pain of transformations (the transformations themselves are painful and he had also taken to harming himself because there was simply nothing else he could do.) Lily is impressed at their devotion and loyalty to their friend. Lily finds out that Snape is not a Death Eater after all, and he has changed his ways. Jacob Dawson finally asks her out, and she says yes. But for some reason she is not as happy as she would have thought. James is irked by something, unknown to Lily and makes an effort to avoid her as much as possible. Lily confronts him about this, and he decides to just get over it once again as he had when she and Jacob had become friends. Jacob asks her why she wears a purity ring. She is disgusted by the nerve of him.**


	15. Chapter 14

AN: Hi lovelies!

Thanks to my reviewers: MayFairy, Slurredspeach, alicenotinwonderland, ShootinStar, TalonsandLeaves, breezy03, lunerflower, DayDreaming0f y0u, potterhead, Loslote, StarkidJulia and rolfshuvakomail! Dang you guys were LOADED. Keep it up, I like it!

And also _**I have a new songfic oneshot**_! (look at that, italics bold and underlined. It means READ IT BECAUSE I AM DESPERATE) Here's the summary for those who are interested: "Songfic based off of Journey's 'Faithfully'. Harry is playing quidditch for Ireland and living out his dream. But when he has to leave his young family at home more than he expected, he finds that he is missing them more than he could ever imagine." So yeah. It doesn't have any reviews, so if you'd like to read it and review it would be very much appreciated send it to all your friends and all that good stuff and I will be eternally grateful!

QUESTION: Favorite Harry Potter book/movie/A Very Potter Musical & Sequel quote? I'd love to know in a review or PM or whatever…and maybe my favorites might just work their way into the next chapter…ooh I'm sneaky

**And as always, summary of previous chapters at the end of the chapter. But I'm going to shorten it and keep it of the past two or three chaps so I don't kill you with a 1000 word summary—this revision is all from the wonderful mind of **_alicenotinwonderland_** so thank you for that!**

Red

Chapter 14

"JAMES POTTER! YOU OWE ME TWENTY GALLEONS!" I hollered through the Great Hall when he and Remus sauntered in. His eyes widened.

"What?"

"Yes, that's right! Sirius and Brittani are together! Now give me my bloody money," I said impatiently, one hand on my hip and the other waiting expectantly.

"Are you sure?"

I huffed. "Yes. I'm sure. If you want proof look over there; they're making out over the marmalade…."

James gaped at them. "Couldn't they have waited one more day?" he exclaimed. If they had gotten together the next day James would have won the bet.

"Technically it was last night."

James rolled his eyes. "Two days then. Whatever."

"I'm waiting," I nagged, waving my expectant hand around a little. He mumbled something under his breath and dug out a drawstring pouch from which he withdrew twenty galleons.

"Here," he said, counting out coins.

I checked them carefully. "You're short one galleon."

"You caught that?" he grinned.

"I don't trust you," I replied.

He reached into the pouch and drew out one more galleon. I plucked it form his hand and sat down happily next to Brittani.

"What's that from?" she asked, nodding to the coins I had dumped on the table. I shrugged. "James."

She frowned. "Why was James giving you money?"

"Because he's such a wonderful guy," I grinned as James himself sat next to me.

She snorted. "No, really."

"She won a bet," James said brusquely.

"What was the bet?" she persisted.

I nudged James, hoping he'd get the hint and make up some story, which he seemed to be good at. But he looked at me with confusion written all over his face, and proceeded to tell the blunt truth. "If you and Sirius hooked up after the sixteenth, then I'd get twenty galleons. And if it were before, then Lily got them. It's the fifteenth so she got them."

"You _bet_ on us?" Brittani exclaimed.

James shrugged. "Yeah."

"Brittani, it was just a joke—we really didn't mean it seriously—"

"No its ok, we bet on-" Sirius started.

"Its fine!" Brittani said loudly. "Don't worry about it." Then she gave Sirius a pointed look that clearly meant for him to close his constantly moving mouth.

"What did you bet on?" I inquired curiously.

"You two, you and—"

Brittani leaned over and kissed him, and he promptly shut up.

"Merlin, if this is what the rest of our lives are like with them," James jabbed a thumb in their direction, "Then maybe I don't want them together."

"You don't mean that," Remus said.

"No. I don't. But it's annoying," James complained. Remus shrugged.

"It's nothing different than what Sirius used to do with his flavors of the week," I pointed out. "But hopefully this lasts longer."

Remus and James agreed, then proceeded to pile food on their plates, James's mound considerably higher than Remus's who had a simple piece of toast and bowl of cereal. The rest of the day was rather uneventful; except for when Remus blew up Sirius's cauldron and it singed most of his hair off after Sirius had made a 'time of the month' joke. Transfiguration was average, we were working on turning chairs into dogs which got a little out of hand when furry chairs with tails and tongues began to run around the room. Sirius turned into his animagus form, a shaggy black dog, and proceeded to run around the room pretending to be a transfigured chair. McGonagall was quite bemused as to where the marauder had ran off to, since she had been keeping a very close eye on him and hadn't see him leave. However, when she turned her back for a moment to help Lindsay Finnegan, he transformed.

After dinner—which Brittani and Sirius had been mysteriously absent during, and James left halfway through, stopping briefly at the Ravenclaw table—that I had eaten with the remaining three marauders, I headed over to the library to brush up on charms for the exam in ten days.

"Hi, Lily," Jacob said, appearing out of nowhere and looking slightly nervous.

"Hey," I grinned, patting the seat of the chair next to me. "Sit," I said.

"No I'm not staying for long…quidditch practice and all."

"Oh."

"Yeah, listen I need to talk to you about something…privately," He added, glancing around at all the other students occupying the library.

I frowned. "Ok." I followed him out of the library, and he stopped abruptly in the hallway right outside it.

"I don't think this is working," he announced. That's when I noticed it. There was a red circle on his cheek, and a spot right above his left eye was starting to swell. And then I noticed a rip in his shirt, and under closer examination, I could see a cut underneath it. And in addition, there were two blue marks on his neck.

"What happened to you?" I asked, ignoring his bold statement.

"It doesn't matter," he muttered, brushing off my question. "Did you hear what I said?"

"Yes." I wish I hadn't.

"Sorry Lily…It's just we don't….work."

I was ready to burst into tears.

"Lily, are you—"

"I'm fine," I said, a little more harshly and loudly than I meant to.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I should go," I warbled, and then brushed past him, jostling his shoulder in my haste. "Sorry," I muttered over my shoulder. I hurried to the library, gathering my books and things and blindly stashing them in my bag. I dashed out the door, and headed towards my dorm.

I couldn't believe that this was my first real relationship, and his is what had become of it. What had I done? Nothing had really changed between us—well, he had been a _little_ more…quiet and…forceful and angry, but I had thought nothing of it. I just had no idea what had led him to…dump me.

Flinging open the door, I ran into our common room and started to head for my bedroom when James sat up from the couch.

"Lily! Whe—what happened?"

"Nothing, I'm fine, I'm fine," I sniffed, wiping my eyes and forcing a smile, fluttering my hands about. I felt the tears start to come on again. James stood up and strode towards me quickly. Through my blurry vision I could see his nose was disfigured, there was dried blood around his mouth, and he had a budding black eye to go along with it.

"James," I hiccoughed "what happened to you?"

"It doesn't matter," he said soothingly. He pulled me into his arms, and I stood there for a while, sobbing pathetically into his shirt, leaning on the solid wall of muscle that was his chest while he rubbed my back. He gently led me onto the couch, and headed over to our kitchenette.

"You want a cup of tea?" he asked. I nodded. He busied himself preparing it, and then gave me the cup as he sat down next to me.

"Sorry. I feel like a blubbering idiot," I said after a sip of hot tea, laughing a little.

"You're fine," he said, slinging his arm around me in a friendly way.

"What happened to you anyway?" I asked. I knew that thinking about Jacob would only make me cry even more so the best thing to do would be just to change the subject.

"Got in a fight," He said brusquely. I didn't say anything, hoping he would elaborate. He didn't. "What happened to you?" He said.

"Jacob broke up with me," I admitted.

"He _what_?" James yelped.

I gave him a weird look. "Dumped me. Feel free to rub it in if you must, but I already feel stupid enough."

"No—I—what an _idiot_!"

"Jacob?"

"Yes, Dawson! I can't believe after what I—Lily, you know who I got in a fight with?"

My jaw dropped. I thought I did, but I wish I didn't.

"Dawson. He wanted to—he wanted—he wanted to get in your pants, Lily," he fumed. "I heard him talking about it last night in the locker rooms before Ravenclaw's practice and after ours. He said you weren't going to be a virgin much longer. So during dinner, I told him that he better not do anything to you, to hurt you or defile you and he said it was none if my business. I told him that it was my business; we're friends, and I'd stand up for you just like I would for Sirius, Remus, or Peter. And that if he dumped you, or did anything to hurt you, that he'd sure hear about it from me. He asked what exactly I'd do to him. He mocked me Lily! Then I threw the first punch. And he will hear from me again, I swear—"

"James, don't do anything rash," I told him. "I don't care about Jacob. He's not worth it."

"Well he's not but you are!" James cried. I looked at him and smiled.

"Really. Its fine."

"Lily, you were crying. It is not fine. He deserves a severe punishment."

"I know he does, but just give him grace alright?"

James sighed. "You know how badly I feel the need to stand up for you?"

I didn't answer.

"Lily, you're too nice. I can't stand letting him get away with this but…fine. I'll let him go this time. For you. But he does anything to anyone else, especially you—"

"You're going to drug and kill him, I know," I grinned. "And in that occasion that it does happen again, although I hope it doesn't, I will gladly partake in that."

He leaned over and enveloped me in a warm hug.

XX

**Previously…**** Jacob asks Lily why she wears a purity ring. She is disgusted by the nerve of him, and gets quite fed up. Sirius and Brittani are getting even closer, and Lily and James bet on when they'll finally get together. She has some deep thoughts about Jacob, and what she thinks about their relationship which she is starting to doubt just a little.**

AN: _**WHOOOHOOOOOOO J A C O B I S G O N E !**_ I'm just as glad as all of you are; I heard about how much you hate him in your review and now he is GONE! You are welcome ;D Sorry this is a little short, but it thought with Sirius and Brittani, and Jacob and Lily, that it was juicy enough.

So remember: read the songfic and review/pm with your favorite HP related quote! And review of course, but that's implied…

Thanks for reading!


	16. Chapter 15

Whooo, so many reviews. Thank you all! StarkidJulia, rolfshuvakomail, breezy03, Potterhead, alicenotinwonderland, ShootinStar, IFreakingLOVEJamesPotter, MayFairy, ckincaid3, Loslote, TalonsandTealeaves, lunerflower, skyblueinkpen, StPeppersGoldenEggclubBand, rosie weasley, and DayDreaming0f y0u

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And as promised, as it is the 15th chapter, the legacy story stats.

Words: 30,495; Chapters: 15; Reviews: 112; Hits: 10,262; Communities: 1; Favs: 35; Alerts: 68

***SUMMARY OF PREVOIUS CHAPTERS AT END OF CHAPTER***

Now, onto the story

Red

Chapter 15

James and I were on rounds again, as usual. His arm was around my shoulders in a brotherly sort of way, and we walked in a companionable silence.

"I don't think I've thanked you yet," I admitted to James suddenly.

"For what?" he asked, frowning at me.

"Saving me from Jacob."

He bowed. "I'm glad to be of service, milady. I love to play the hero."

"But seriously, thanks."

He grinned lopsidedly, and didn't say anything.

"Why did you do it?" I asked suddenly.

He shrugged. "That's what friends are supposed to do."

We continued on walking, and had almost finished rounds when James stopped abruptly, grabbing my wrist and motioned for me to be quiet. I stood still, heart racing, looking up at him and trying to figure out why he had stopped us. He was still holding onto my wrist, and very tightly at that. He looked down at me and mouthed 'I heard voices'. I nodded and listened.

"Over break would be best. We want the least amount of people possible here."

"Right at the end of break, too. So that they have to deal with all the students coming back and what we are going to do."

"Two of 'em, right?"

"Two of them, tortured close to death. He'll take us seriously now."

I looked at James with wide eyes. _Torture?_ He squeezed my hand reassuringly.

"And we'll be official Death Eaters, doing big things."

"That's the plan."

They then began to walk towards us, and James quickly wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me into a broom cupboard, throwing a hand over my mouth to stifle my yelp of surprise. He closed the door quietly, and we heard them walk by silently.

He released his hand and I planted heavily, and it was then I realized that we were standing very close together. I could feel his chest rise and fall next to mine. His warm breath washed over my face, and through the dim light that wafted through the doorframe, I could see he was looking at me with something close to…hunger in his eyes.

We stood there for a minute until I breathed, "I think they're gone now."

James nodded dumbly, but didn't move. "You OK?" I asked him. Again, he nodded, and let out a grunt of some kind. He opened the door and let me out first.

I felt dizzy, lightheaded, and my heard was still throbbing though it had been minutes since James pulled me into the broom cupboard. I felt electrified, like a bolt of lightning had just struck me. James looked even more dazed than I did. I thought that it might have been what I had just heard, but I really knew that it was something more than that, but I wouldn't admit that to myself.

We started back to the heads dorm.

"You don't know how badly I wanted to take them," James growled, looking angrily ahead, refusing to meet my eyes.

"Well it's a good thing you didn't; there could have been ten of them, easily. I heard so many voices when they walked by the broom cupboard."

"But I just wanted to do something _so_ bad."

"We do need to do something about it. Tell Dumbledore, firstly, and then maybe see if we can do something about this ourselves," I articulated.

He grinned, a glint shining in his hazel eyes. "If they're fighting in this, we can too."

"And with enough numbers, we can surely take them," I said. "We could definitely get the rest of the Marauders and Brittani, for sure, and then some other fifth and sixth years from Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw."

"And then we can take this outside of Hogwarts when we leave, get some outside of Hogwarts recruits and the other seventh years."

"Hopefully there will be some sixth year leaders that will rise up and take over when we're gone."

"I'm sure there will be," he assured me.

The genius flowed fast and furiously as we talked, and we planned and strategized with ferocity. We had already planned how we would ask Dumbledore, who exactly we would ask, what we would do, how to train; we had almost everything thought out. We were both so eager to do something about the up-and-coming war, to be able to fight for what we believed in. James's eyes grew wide and bright, and his voice was even louder as we talked. By the time we had made it back to the common room, we felt like doing anything but sleeping, but by that time it was well past one in the morning so we turned in penitently.

As I lie in my bed, staring at the high ceiling with my hands behind my head, I tried to explain the feeling that I had when we got out of the broom cupboard. But I came up with nothing. It was like nothing I had ever felt before; it was just so…unexplainable.

XX 

Dumbledore sighed. We had just reiterated what we had heard last night, and he had looked spent by the end of it. He all of a sudden looked years older; his eyes were tired, and he emanated weariness. We—James and I—sat eagerly watching him, waiting for him to tell us of the big plans he had to crush Voldemort and the Death Eaters.

"I don't know how much I can do," he said.

Our shoulders sagged.

He continued. "The Ministry has just put certain restrictions on the authority of professors and headmasters of schools, and there can be no punishment for expressing beliefs. Now, if we are able to catch them in the act—or, hopefully right before it is to take place—then I will be able to send them to Azkaban. But until then, I can't do anything to prevent it.

"But, just because I cannot take action, doesn't mean you can," he said with a twinkle in his eye. "As long as you abide by the school rules, I will give you full license to do whatever you can to sop this. Recruit some of your peers, and see what you can do."

"Thanks, professor. We'll do as much as we can to prevent this."

"You have my full vote of confidence."

James and I stood, said our goodbyes, and hurried swiftly out the door. We had to save Hogwarts, after all.

XX

**Previously…Lily (FINALLY) is through with Jacob, and Sirius and Brittani (FINALLY) get together. **


	17. Chapter 16

Hi everyone! Yes I am aware that it's not Sunday. And that last chapter was cruelly short. And I'm sorry. But here it is, anyways…

Thanks to my lovely reviewers: Nanabug, MayFairy, Loslote, EnglandChick, Moviejunkie66, isabellitax, rolfshuvakomail, Midnightsnitch, potterforever08, JazLunatica, breezey03, midnighthuntress808, valenari and ShootinStar! You all are amazing :D

Aghh, sorry if this chapter is…blagh. I've writing this horrible essay for school, and had a severe case of writers block all through it and I think its carried over to my other writing =_= so my apologies in advance.

***SUMMARY OF PREVIOUS CHAPTERS AT END OF CHAPTER***

Red

Chapter 16

Today was, yet another, long day. I had barely made it through two quizzes and an exam, and I would have to go talk to James in a bit about the first meeting of our anti-Death Eater group. We had decided to call it the "Order of the Phoenix", a name that James had come up with after leaving Dumbledore's office, having been inspired by his phoenix Fawkes. I thought it was a little overdone, but went with it all the same. James had said that quidditch practice would probably run late, so I should just start rounds without him and he'd find me eventually. How he would find me in this enormous castle, I had no idea. But I had trusted him anyways, and was about to set off. Curfew actually hadn't ended, so I let the few stragglers left in the hallways pass. I rounded a corner, and literally ran into someone.

"Oh, sorry, I—Sev," I stammered, pausing bluntly after I said his name.

"Lily. I was looking for you."

I nodded encouragingly and he continued.

"Can we talk?"

"Yeah, over here…" I trailed off as I headed towards an abandoned classroom. I shut the door quietly behind him. I raised an eyebrow at him warily.

"I'm tired of being in the 'bad side'. Even though I'm not a Death Eater, I'm still associated with them. It's like I can't get away from it all. I want to join you."

His words almost took the breath out of me.

"So. What can I do?"

I bit my lip. I thought I could trust him, but I couldn't be sure. "Let me talk to James. He might have an idea," I stalled. "I'll meet you tomorrow in the library at seven?"

"What's Potter got to do with this?" he asked harshly, eyes darkening.

I sighed. "Can't you just let go of old prejudices, Sev? If you really want to do this you're going to have to."

He surveyed me warily, and took a deep, shuddering breath. His eyes pierced through me. "I will. But only because—only because—" his voice died suddenly, and he looked down at his feet. "I'll see you tomorrow at seven," he alleged suddenly, and stalked off, robes billowing behind his tall, lanky figure. I watched him leave feeling utterly confused. What had caused these sudden changes of views from him? First he separated from the Death Eaters, and now he was joining our side? With no clear motives? And why was he so quick to forgive James? It made no sense, but we did need as many people as possible so I would just have to trust him, even if I wasn't _completely_ assured in his honesty.

Not long after, I saw James sauntering down the hallway, stuffing a large piece of parchment in his back pocket. He quickened his pace to meet me, and greeted me breathlessly with a grin. Apparently he had run straight from practice to meet me. I told James that we were going to meet with Sev the next day, because the first Order meeting would be the day after that.

"What's Snivellus got to do with this?" he had quipped, grin sliding off of his face.

I sighed. They were more alike than they knew. "He could be useful, James. And he's changed," I promised with more certainty than I felt. James seemed to have a mutual feeling of suspicion.

"Really."

"Yes. We don't have people teeming to join and as I said, he could be useful. A spy. I will guarantee you that we won't have anyone with his connections; we won't get anyone else from Slytherin."

"You know he might walk out on us like he did the Death Eaters."

I took a deep breath. "That is possible," I admitted. "But he really might be on our side." I convinced myself that it was true more each time I said that. "We can talk to him tomorrow, anyways. We don't have to decide right now."

"Yeah," James murmured absently. He stopped walking suddenly, and walked over to a window overlooking the grounds, muscular form illuminated by the silvery light of an almost full moon. "But do you trust him?" he asked, back to me; not having turned around.

I joined him, standing next to him as we gazed out on the grounds. I leaned my head on his arm, and my bare knee brushed against his pant leg. I shivered unconsciously at the touch. I felt the vast muscles in his arm tense as I leaned into him. He relaxed and gently wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

"I think so. I'll know for sure tomorrow."

"I trust your judgment. That's all I need."

XXX

Classes rushed by the next day. Before I knew it, Brittani and I were parting ways as she went to meet up with Sirius to go flying. They seemed to be working out quite well, and I thought that they might beat the odds and last for a while. They complimented each other's personality, and managed to keep the other in check. I, of course, was heading to meet up with Sev and James. It was a strange combination that I never thought would be working together. But there they were, James strolling in with Sev right behind almost as soon as I had sat down.

It was a little awkward, I'd admit. I was sandwiched between to very bigoted people that had probably never had a civil conversation in their whole life, neither of which looked too thrilled to be here. The hard feelings had ran deep ever since the marauders—particularly James and Remus—had started calling Sev a butt trumpet on the third day of first year when Sev had sat on a whoopee cushion they had placed there in Herbology. I knew this could turn out very badly, or it could turn out very good. There was no way telling which. They sat in complete silence, glaring at each other out of the corners of their eyes. I huffed.

"If this is going to work, you can't act like five year olds," I pointed out crossly. James mumbled something under his breath and Sev looked away, embarrassed.

"So. Sev. Please _politely_ explain to James why you're here."

"Because I want to work with you guys. I'm tired of being with the Death Eaters; even though I technically left, they still act like I'm on their side."

"But what if you get tired of being on our side? How do we know you're telling the truth?" he snapped defensively.

"James," I warned under my breath. He ignored me.

Sev shuddered, and a line formed between his eyebrows. "I'd never go back," he vowed. "It was too horrible."

James nodded satisfied. "What if we had you working as a spy?"

He shrugged. "I suppose it would be fine," he replied coolly.

"You'd be doing most of the same things as before," James pointed out.

"But I wouldn't have to deal with the guilt, the consequences, and the torture of it all. That'd make a big difference."

James leaned back in his chair and contemplated what Sev had said. He thought for a while, until he leaned forwards again and the legs of his chair fell back on the floor with a loud bang. He looked at me and raised his eyebrows, silently asking if I trusted him. I nodded my head very slightly. "OK," he said simply.

"I'm in?" Sev asked.

"Yep. I'm convinced. See you tomorrow outside the heads common room. We meet at six."

Sev smiled a gesture that was very rare to see from him. "See you then," he said as he stood abruptly and left.

"So. What do you think?" James said, turning to me.

"I think we made a good decision. He could be quite useful."

James nodded. "And it'll be priceless to see the looks on everyone's faces when he walks in," he chuckled. I laughed along with him, picturing the looks of sheer surprise that would grace the students' faces when he would duck through the doorway.

XXX

The crowd of students with expectant faces surrounded me as the marauders, Brittani and I stood in front of them. James took a shaky breath and began.

"Well, it's great to see you all here."

They sat stony faced, still staring us down. He continued. "And I bet you're all wondering what exactly this is. Well, I'm going to tell you.

"We are here to defeat Voldemort. And—"

I was interrupted by cheers and applause as the crown came to life with smiles and whoops. I grinned a little bit as well, feeling a little more confident.

"We start here in the school. Some of the Slytherins are aspiring Death Eaters, or already are Death Eaters. They are going to graduate in a few years, and then they will be the dominating Death Eaters. Our job is to get rid of them now, send them to Azkaban. Also, to keep the rest of Hogwarts safe. Then when some of us graduate, we carry it out past Hogwarts. But right now, its' all here.

"This starts with us, students at Hogwarts. The adults in the world aren't doing anything, so we've got to step up and be the heroes here. We have to save the world."

XXX

Blahhhh another short chapter! I was out of town and had to write it on the way home, while trying to study for two tests 0.o so sorry about the length, and that I missed last weekend. Next week will be back to normal!

**Previously…Lily thanks James from saving her from being hurt any further by Jacob. While on rounds, they overhear aspiring Death Eaters planning to torture muggle borns. They began to walk towards James and Lily, who are obviously outnumbered. They flee to a broom cupboard, and Lily leaves feeling lightheaded, dazed, and confused about where these feelings came from. Dumbledore can't do anything about the Death Eaters in school, but he gives them leave to take charge, and they plan to do so.**


	18. Chapter 17

AN: Sorry in advance for another short chapter but a tone of stuff came up and I had literally no time to write. So so so so sorry. It's been crazy recently. But I might update one Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday-ish to make up for it. It's also partially short because…well, you'll see why ;)

Thanks to my reviewers: Moviejunkie66, MayFairy, Midnightsnitch, KCRedPanda98, Loslote, Nanabug, rolfshuvakomail, PaNaMo, and Daydreaming 0f y0u. You all are amazing!

***SUMMARY OF PREVIOUS CHPTERS AT END OF CHAPTER***

Red

Chapter 17

"I got it covered."

"Really?"

"She fell for it. Trusted me completely right off the bat. And Potter, too."

"You'd think they'd be a little more cautious…"

"I was surprised as well. But as long as it worked, it's all right with me. Got me set up as a spy."

"That should be easy enough."

"I hope so. As long as I play the part well, I think I'll be fine. They have proved to be gullible, after all."

"I'd say things are going quite well, wouldn't you? And tomorrow, we get to show those mudbloods where their place is."

"Don't be so cocky. And if we mess up, then well, we don't have any chance after school."

"We'll have more chances to prove ourselves, I'm sure."

"We don't know that for a fact. Let's just do this as if it's our only chance, and our lives are on the line. And have a little fun while we're at it."

"I want to see how much mud is really in their blood."

"You'll have an opportunity to see tomorrow."

"Things just couldn't get better."

AN: Again, sorry its so short! Didn't have a lot of time at all…and I feel it makes a much more dramatic chapter.

So expect a chapter sometime this week, and again of course, on Sunday.

**Previously…Snape joins the Order as a spy and the first meeting takes place.**


	19. Chapter 18

AN: my apologies for being so inconsistent on updating recently…0.o sorrysorrysorry! Life has been crazy during the last month.

Phew, we're a little over half way done with this story. From Christmas to the end of the year flies by super fast, and this story ends at the end of their 7th year.

But you guys still reviewed! KCRedPanda98, MayFairy, rolfshuvakomail, Nanabug, PaNaMo, DayDreaminf0f y0u, HaRrY-pOtTeR-iS-mY-wOrLd, EnglandChick, and horseislove

***SUMMARY OF PREVIOUS CHAPTERS AT THE END OF CHAPTER***

Red

Chapter 18

"JAMES!" I yelled, banging on the bathroom door. "HURRY YOUR ARSE UP!" If I wanted to be on time, I would have seven minutes to take a shower, get dressed, and do my hair. For a guy, that was possible, but not for a girl with very high maintenance hair.

"Merlin, Lily, calm down! It takes time to look this good," he explained, and opened the door a few seconds later, a towel wrapped around his waist.

"And put some clothes on," I muttered grumpily as I closed the door. I huffed, and took a deep breath. Over the years dealing with James I had learned that if there was one time to ignore his antics, it was early in the morning. If I got all worked up at six, I would be irritable the rest of the day. Of course, he wasn't as immature as of late, but he still was James Potter.

My temper cooled down under the heat of the hot water pounding on my back as I hurried through my routine. I decided that today my hair would have to be happy with a French braid, instead of the usual waves that I patiently curl it into. I quickly twisted the locks together, secured it with a hair band, and sprayed it with a bit of hairspray that my mum had gotten me last year. The bottle was running on empty, but that wasn't the problem now.

James was buttoning his shirt when I came out of the bathroom, the steam following me out of the room. James glanced up quickly as I came out.

"You look nice," he commented.

"Thanks," I said a little take back. He was probably just trying to make up for taking an hour in the bathroom.

"Do you know where my tie is?" he asked, hunting around his room and all the clutter that it encompassed. He ducked under the bed, his torso disappearing.

"It's on the doorknob," I laughed as I crossed the room to hand it to him. He fumbled with the fabric as he tried to stick a foot in his shoe. I sighed, took the tie from his fingers, and reached up to expertly tie it as I used to do to for my dad every day before he left for work. He stared at me as I secured it, and I felt my face turning red under his gaze. I wasn't sure why I was blushing, but thinking about it made my face grow an even deeper shade of red.

"Thanks," he said. I looked up and was aware of our close proximity, too close for my comfort.

"Don't mention it," I breathed, stepping backwards and hurrying out the room. It had felt like it was ninety degrees in there, but I just told myself that was just because I had left the door of the bathroom open, and the hot steamy air had penetrated the room. I hastily grabbed my bag and without a word we both hurried out the door. I checked the clock in the Gryffindor common room. Only nine minutes late.

When we finally got to the Great Hall, it was perfectly silent. Everyone's heads were bowed, except for a few of the Slytherins, and Dumbledore stood at the front of the room with his head bowed as well. James opened his mouth, but I quickly reached up and stifled him with my hand, and led him to the end of the Gryffindor table. Thankfully no one noticed up come in late, and when they all raised their heads no one made any sign of acknowledging us. I had no idea what had happened, but the grave looks on everyone's faces when they finally looked up told me it was not good.

"Miss Williams and Miss Nicks will be in the hospital wing for an undetermined amount of time, but within the next week visiting hours will be allowed. For now, we will give them some peace to rest.

"You may go on with your day, but please remember to be cautious until we have caught our culprits. Thank you for your cooperation," he finished and sat down wearily at his seat.

I exchanged a look with James. _What had happened? _He headed down to where the marauders and Brittani were sitting.

"What happened?" he demanded.

Remus sighed heavily. "Two muggle borns from Ravenclaw were tortured last night, one almost to the point of death by the time they were found out. But when they unlocked the door to the room they were in, they were gone and had left the two girls passed out on the floor," he said in a low voice.

It took a while for the words to sink in. I had never imagined that something like that would ever happen at Hogwarts. We had the protection of the teachers, Dumbledore, everything…and yet two muggle borns were…tortured. It was crazy. Hogwarts used to be the safe haven from the war, but now it had even infiltrated the castles walls.

That meant that the newly established order would have to step up its game. And I was ready for it.

XXX

Brittani and I had been studying together in my room until she had to leave for quidditch, leaving me quite alone. I absently flipped the pages of my Charms VI book until I realized that I really wasn't going to get anything done. I bent down to drop the book into my bag, when I saw the corner of a large, leather-bound photo album. I bit my lip, and contemplated picking it up to look through it. I reached down, pulled up the thick volume, and dropped on my lap. On the side it said 1960-1970. The years before I went to Hogwarts. Before all the fighting.

I delicately lifted the cover to the first page. Baby pictures of me, with my parents, all smiles, holding me. A three-year-old Petunia was in almost all of them too, short hair in high pigtails with a big smile on her face. The next page was full of pictures of me taking my first steps, trying my first spoon of baby food, in a swimsuit sitting on the sand of the beach with Petunia next to me, trying to help me mush sand together to make a very lumpy sandcastle. My first birthday was on the next page; I had smashed my face in the cake but was grinning nonetheless. My parents stood behind me in my highchair, and my dad had Petunia settled in his arms, resting on his hip.

I kept on flipping through the pages, not even noticing that tears were running down my cheeks until one landed on the page. I hastily wiped if off, and blew my nose loudly.

I didn't even know why I was crying. I guess it was just that as I looked through all the pictures of the smiling, happy family that used to be, it reminded me even more of the broken one we had today. I had heard my parents talking about getting a divorce after I was done with my seventh year; they didn't want to have one until I was out of the house. They kept it together simply because they didn't want to disappoint Petunia and I. But I knew they really didn't get along at all. They fought over anything.

I turned the pages blindly through my tears, gazing bittersweetly at the memories. The pictures of us all sitting happily under the tree reminded me about how I would be leaving for Christmas break in a few days, and I could only imagine what a disaster it would be. Petunia would be there; she was going to university that was close to home so she just lived at home and planned to move out the moment she graduated. I wasn't looking forward to it. I was on the last page, when I heard James knock on the door. I froze; completely humiliated that he would see me crying over some pictures when much bigger problems like the safety of the school and the two Ravenclaw girls was at stake. I was considering if I should pretend to be asleep or not there and not say anything, but he opened the door even though I had made no response to his knocking. He opened his mouth, but upon seeing what a mess I was, promptly closed it.

"Oh," he let out.

I didn't know what to say, so I just stared at him open mouthed, before snapping my jaw shut and hastily stuffing the album under my bed. I stood up, smoothed out my skirt and said, "did you need something?"

"Yeah—I—I—what happened?"

"Nothing, I'm fine," I lied, plastering a smile on my face. He saw right through it.

"No you're not," he said bluntly.

"Really, it was nothing."

"Then why are you so upset?" he persisted.

I groaned internally. Why wouldn't he take a hint and shut up? I knew he had good intentions but…I just didn't want to talk about this kind of thing, especially with him. "Just let it go, ok?"

"No," he objected. He went over to my bed and sat down, grabbing my wrist and taking me with him. "Wait, let me get you a cup of tea," he offered.

"No, I'm really fine," I assured him, groaning internally. He ignored me, and left for the kitchenette, coming back later with a mug of steaming chai tea. I took it grudgingly.

"My mum makes tea whenever someone's upset," he explained. I nodded silently.

"What were you looking at?" he asked me quietly. Although I knew it was a bad idea, I reached down to grab the photo album, and handed it to him. He leafed through the pages silently, staring intently at each and every one of the pictures.

"Petunia?" he asked, pointing to a picture in which my sister and I were both painting the walls of my bedroom. I remembered it well. I was six, she was nine, and we had begged my mum for months to let us paint the walls, as we had seen our parents paint the kitchen and wanted to try it too. My mum had finally relented, and we were allowed to use light green, sky blue, and lilac color paint to paint whatever we wanted over the soft yellow. In the picture Petunia was showing off what she had painted: she and I standing together with the words 'Sisters Forever' above our heads. I felt the tears start to come again as I nodded in answer to his question.

"What happened to you?"

I sighed. "I became a witch, that's what happened. Petunia was jealous, and still is bitter, and my parents argue over us. It was all that stupid letter that started it," I said appallingly, blowing my nose. He nodded, and continued to flip through the album.

"It's not your fault, you know," he told me, closing the book.

"I know. It's just…sometimes it feels like it is. And if I hadn't gotten that letter, we still would have been that happy family."

"Think of all the people you've met here, all you've learned. I know I would trade that for the world."

"I don't think I would either…but that still doesn't mean I wish I had my family back."

"Just think of us as your family; your brothers and sisters. And Sirius as your dad" he offered, grinning. I smiled at him.

"I will." I promised. "Except for that bit about Sirius."

He tilted his head back and laughed loudly. "I don't blame you," he said. I leaned in and hugged him.

AN: AWWWWWWW! Hopefully that was enough fluff for you. Please review!

**Previously…Lily and James overhear Death Eaters at Hogwarts plotting for torture, and form a defense group, the Order. Snape is a spy for them. There is a discussion between Snape and some others about how gullible Lily and James are, and how he isn't really on their side at all.**


	20. Chapter 19

AN: Hi guys! So I get this Thursday and Friday off and because I'm so cool I'm spending my four day weekend writing fanfiction :D well not the whole time, but ya know…so you're welcome for updating on a Friday AND Sunday. You guys are just so spoiled.

Well maybe _I'm_ spoiled for having such great REVIEWERS! (bad joke….bad baaaad joke…) rolfshuvakomail, MayFairy, DayDreaming0f y0u, EndglandChick, Loslote, and Doctor Brittana Banana Who.

***SUMMARY OF PREVIOUS CHAPTERS AT END OF CHAPTER***

Red

Chapter 19 (right?)

Christmas break was relatively uneventful. I mostly stayed in my bedroom, trying to block out all the yelling by blasting the George Harrison while I got ahead in schoolwork. My parents doubted nothing when I covered up my absence with the fact that we were loaded with schoolwork this year, when in reality, the load was considerably light after all the exams we had. But they didn't know that, and they didn't suspect a thing.

After three days I wondered why I had even come home. It wasn't as dismal at Hogwarts. I could be doing the same thing at Hogwarts except with the marauders, who had all decided to stay there with Sirius because he had left home the previous summer. But family was family—even though as James had said my real family was actually back home—and it was right thing to do to go home. So I did. And even though it wasn't the most pleasant experience, I felt like I should still be there, even if I only made appearances at meals and such.

Christmas Day itself was just like all the others—but not at all. We went through the same traditions; midnight mass on Christmas Eve, same delicious dinner prepared by mum, same star atop of the tree and we exchanged gifts as we did every year. But it was emotionless, apathetic, and we moved as a functional but detached unit. I was happy when the break was over, but at the same time, sad about how it had turned out. The ride back on the Hogwarts Express was a relief.

XXX

The Order was assembled before us, and the grave looks written on their faces assured us that they hadn't forgotten about the attacks over the holidays. We hadn't either; in fact that was why we had called this meeting. To tighten up security, and discuss the severity of the situation at hand. We had decided that curfew would be earlier, 9 o'clock, and whenever someone would leave the common room it would be wise to take at least one person with them as well as their wands. Then Sirius addressed the hotheads—Remus decided he could relate the best—and told them that even though the Slytherins were pieces of filth, we had to keep our cool when provoked. Even making just a small snide comment could place a target on your back. Severus then took his stand and sincerely apologized that he hadn't been able to find out sooner about the attack, but then gave us a few leads to go off of. He said it was hard determining what was true and what were just conspiracies, even when in the inner circle. But he was confident in the verity of what he told us. The group was dismissed and trekked back to their dorms in groups with their houses. James collapsed on the couch, and I fell on top of him. He loosened his tie and undid a few buttons of his shirt, and removed his glasses and tossed them onto the table. We laid like that for a while, my head resting on his chest and hair fanned out around it, his arm draped around my waist. I sighed and relaxed to the steadiness of James's breathing and humming heartbeat. Just two friends enjoying each other's company.

"We made it," I murmured.

"We did," he replied in a low voice. "How was your break, anyway?" he asked.

"It was fine," I lied curtly.

"Don't lie to me, Lils."

"It was bloody awful."

He laughed and his chest vibrated as it moved up and down with each burst. "That bad, eh?"

I shrugged and made a noncommittal noise in the back of my throat. "It could've been worse."

"Where are you going to live after school?" he asked abruptly.

I stared blankly at the ceiling. "I haven't a clue," I admitted faintly. "I can't go home."

"You could live with me," he offered, and I could have sworn I felt his heart rate speed up.

"I couldn't do that," I said with a weak laugh. "Isn't that for couples?"

"Yeah, I guess," he muttered. "You just going to get your own place?" he asked.

"Probably, if I can afford it."

"I can help you pay for it."

"You don't have to do that."

"I know."

"I'll be fine, James."

"I'm there if you need me," he reminded me gently.

I grinned, looking up at the ceiling, and fell asleep moments later.

XXX

When I woke up, I was in my bed, although I knew I had fallen asleep on the couch. The blankets were all pulled up snugly around me, and I could have only imagined that James was the cause of this. I smiled thinking about it, but I didn't know why.

It was strange. I found myself smiling all the time when I thought about James. I wondered if…no. He was just a great friend, I was thankful for that, and that was it. Just like how I was thankful for Brittani. That was all.

The most of that day I spent in the library with Remus, studying like usual. Brittani and I went for a run before dinner—something that I usually didn't do, but after sitting in a chair all day I was desperate for some kind of movement. We went to dinner afterwards, and I was ravenously hungry, as I hadn't had anything to eat that day besides coffee. I had gotten rather caught up in my studying and Remus had as well. Sirius, James and Brittani left for quidditch soon right after dinner, so I parted ways with the two remaining marauders. I curled up in my blanket with _Little Women_ to wait for James to get back so we could go on rounds together. I was engrossed in the novel and the crackling of the fire in our common room was the only noise to be heard. It was quite peaceful. I glanced at the clock and saw that I was supposed to be leaving for rounds right now. I frowned. James wasn't even back yet. I waited around for a minute or two, growing more impatient by and by. Seven minutes went by, and he still wasn't back. I let out a frustrated huff and decided I would just start without him.

I was very angry with him. It would be one thing to let me know he would be able to come and I could have brought someone else with me, but to just ditch and leave me by myself—especially with my heritage and the attacks that took place only weeks ago—was uncaring, immature, and rash. I was so worked up that I was storming the halls, too preoccupied to even look for any activity. I flew across the halls, muttering angrily to myself. Maybe I was being a little dramatic, but I was just so disappointed in Potter. I thought he had finally matured. I was going down a long stretch, when I heard some suspicious noises coming from a broom cupboard. I stopped in front of it and firmly wrench the door open.

My jaw dropped.

Inside stood a very shocked looking James with an angry looking girl who I knew to be a Ravenclaw bimbo.

"You," I hissed, glaring at the Ravenclaw. "Get back to your dormitory. You'll hear from me tomorrow."

She gave me another dirty look and flounced out with all the dignity that a girl with her makeup smared all over her face and hair mussed up as if it had never seen a brush could muster. I watched her down the hallway, and then turned my attention to James.

He had this look on his face I couldn't quite place. He looked saddened, depressed, disappointed, confused...

"Put your shirt back on," I ordered. He reached down, ashamed, and pulled it around his shoulders. "And—you know what, you're not even worth it. I'm not going to yell at you, I'm not going to care, I give up. Yes! I give up on you. Goodbye James, enjoy being an irresponsible prat."

"Lily—wait, listen—"

"No, James! I'm not going to listen to you, because you don't listen to anyone but yourself!" I bellowed over my shoulder as I stomped off to my dorm. I heard him running and he wheeled to a stop in front of me, glasses askew, tie hanging off, and shirt halfway done up.

"I'm sorry Lily, I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry!" he yelped frantically, running a jumpy hand through his hair. I rolled my eyes and shoved past him.

"I'm sorry I'm not perfect like you are!" he yelled after me as I started down the hall. I froze.

"You think _I'm_ perfect?" I asked in disbelief.

"You're beautiful, you are the most kind and sincere person I've ever met, you are the most brilliant person I know, and I—"

With every word he took a step closer to me. I felt my breath catch in my throat and I was paralyzed.

He stopped speaking and abruptly closed the distance with a kiss.

AN: Please don't kill me, I will update again on Sunday. Ooh, the torture!


	21. Chapter 20

AN: Whoo, I'm back! So I considered today and Fridays chapters almost like mini chapters which add up to be a long one. So that's why they were both shorter.

It seems like no one is very happy with James at the moment…poor guy. Let him explain himself before you make judgments!

It was great to hear from so many of you! Stu Marty uncle, rolfshuvakomail, alicenotinwonderland, AA, AshJaz, JazzLunatica, anonymous, Jingjingles, percysis16, MayFairy, Senta1000, GinnyEvans4,and Loslote

Since this is chapter 20, here are the story stats for those who are interested: Words: 37,468; Chapters: 20; Reviews: 170; Hits: 17,404; Communities: 1; Favorites: 59; Alerts: 96

***SUMMARY OF PREVIOS CHAPTERS AT END OF CHAPTER***

Red

Chapter 20

James was kissing me, and it felt amazing. I could feel the electricity pulsing through my veins, my heart was racing, my head pounded, and I felt elated. Was this what it felt like to be high? I felt lightheaded, like I had just been electrocuted, like I was on fire, like—hold on. I was kissing James Potter!

I pulled away abruptly, feeling disgusted. I couldn't believe that I had felt so amazing when kissing James Potter. It was not right. It was gross.

"What are you doing?" I shouted, wiping my mouth off with my sleeve.

"I don't know!" he yelled back, again running a hand through his tangled hair.

"Do you think you can just kiss me after you've already snogged some Ravenclaw?"

"No!"

"Then why did you?"

"I don't even know why I kissed that girl, honestly, it just—this is going to sound crazy but—it just happened! And before I knew it she had locked the door from the inside and I couldn't get out and she ripped off my shirt! I swear Lily, it sounds crazy, but I didn't mean to!"

"Yes that does sound crazy. And I'd have to be crazy to believe you."

"C'mon Lily, I wouldn't do that!"

"Oh really. It's not like you never have before."

"Lily, I swear, you have to believe me," he pleaded. I glared at him as he stared hopelessly at me from behind his glasses. The look on his face was so sincere, so hopeful…but I couldn't believe him. His story was just so absurd.

"What exactly happened?" I asked him.

He frowned ad was silent or a while, looking like he was finding the right words to say. The right lies to say.

"After quidditch I was heading back to the dorms, and then there was this…weird noise, I can't quite remember, and then everything went…fuzzy."

"Fuzzy," I repeated, disbelievingly.

"Yeah, I can't really remember anything clearly."

"You really are expecting me to believe that, aren't you?"

He groaned. "Lily, you have to."

"Well, I don't."

And with that, I stormed off down the hallway. I couldn't believe him. It would be one thing if he confessed, and admitted that yes, he had hooked up with some Reavenclaw. Then maybe I could forgive him after I cooled down a few days later. But kissing me, and then lying to me? No.

To my surprise, I couldn't hear him pursuing me. I felt a twinge of regret, leaving him alone. It was dangerous around here. But no. He left me alone so I had every right to do the same to him. But I still felt a little guilty. I sighed and decided not to think about him anymore tonight, and just to hurry back and get some sleep.

XXX

The next few days were a mess. After I had told Brittani about what had happed, she told the rest of the marauders—which she had every right in doing. This caused a bit of tension between all of them. Sirius sided with James, saying he had every right to snog whoever he wanted to. Peter followed him. Remus and Brittani said he was being completely irresponsible leaving me on my own especially after what happened without even telling me where he was going. The tension built, and it was so bad that Sirius and Brittani who were once inseparable weren't on speaking terms and it seemed their relationship wasn't going to make it. Remus was shunned by Sirius, who wouldn't speak to him, and James was a little miffed as well, but was trying to make things right with him and the rest of us, but to no avail. Brittani and I took Remus under our wing, and I kicked James out of our dorms and let Remus take his room. Brittani often slept on the couch there as well; the three other girls in seventh year were Sirius and James's groupies and had heard about the drama, and were giving her a hard time about it.

I hated it.

I wanted it all to be over. I couldn't stand the strain. At such a crucial time it was necessary that we stick together. I was almost at the point of breaking and just forgiving James for such an unjustifiable thing. The last few days he had looked like a completely different man. There were enormous bags under his eyes, face had grown to be a pasty white, and he moved around lethargically. I wanted to forgive him, but I couldn't.

Brittani, Remus and I had taken over doing rounds, leaving James out of it. Two weeks after the incident, we were almost finishing up when we heard voices coming from an abandoned classroom in the dungeons. The three of us crouched next to the door, barely daring to breathe as we listened in to their conversation. Its contents were baffling.

"That was one wicked imperius you did."

"And that polyjuice worked amazingly. He really thought you were that Ravenclaw."

"That's because he was under the imperius, you idiot."

"Well, after, he still did…"

"Listen, this is the perfect time to strike. They're all broken up. They can't fight when they're fighting amongst themselves. Tomorrow, we discuss our next move while they're still weak. We could really get far while they're vulnerable."

It all made sense. James wasn't lying. He was put under the imperius curse after quidditch, which is why his memory was foggy. A Slytherin drank a polyjuice potion that turned her into the Ravenclaw. When they were in the cupboard, the curse was taken off and the door locked so he couldn't get out. And they had all done it just to get us riled up against each other.

I shivered and felt the bile rise I my thought at the thought of how cruel they had been.

And when we had gotten safely back to the dorms, I explained everything. And when I finally fell into bed that night, I cried because of how cruel I had been.

**Previously…Lily's Christmas break is anything but enjoyable and is plagued by her family's arguments. James fails to show up to rounds and Lily finds him snogging a Ravenclaw in a broom cupboard instead. She's furious, and James kisses her.**


	22. Chapter 21

AN: Thanks to my reviewers: GinnyEvans4, rolfshuvakomail, MayFairy, gimarkley2013, EnglandChick, AA, DayDreaing0f y0u, Loslote, chilli's-girl, lunerflower, alicenotinwonderland

Red

Chapter 21

Over the few weeks that our group had split, I realized something.

I missed James.

I missed him horribly at first, and seeing he in the hallways, walking lifelessly along, made me feel horrible. But I was too cold to apologize. Then when he moved out of our dorm, I missed him even more. But I was still too cruel. And when I found out that I was in the wrong, not him, it killed me to even look at him. But I couldn't humble myself to apologize. I knew I would have to get it over with eventually, but I dreaded doing it.

And after I realized that I missed him, I understood why.

I fancied him.

I fancied James Potter.

The phrase 'you never know what you got until it's gone' seemed to put into words exactly how I felt. It took me two painful weeks to figure it out; that he was the most amazing guy and I really couldn't live without him like I had been for the past fourteen days. And I needed him back in my life.

So I summoned all my courage, and went over to the boys' dorms that he had been living in. My heart pounded faster with every step I took, and by the time I was planted in front of the door, anyone within a one hundred meter radius of my probably could have heard it. I raised my shaking fist to the door and knocked.

I heard a thud, and then five softer thuds. The door opened, and James stood in front of me.

I felt a blush rise to me cheeks; he was completely shirtless. I previously wouldn't have minded, but now, it felt like a swarm of butterflies had been unleashed in my stomach.

"Uh," I articulated intelligently.

"Oh." he said, just as dumbfounded as I was. "Come in," he said added quickly.

I hesitantly walked through the door that he held open for me, and perched myself on top of Peter's bed; it was the cleanest of them. James dove under his and pulled out a white tee shirt.

"Sorry," he muttered, pulling it over his muscular frame.

"It's fine," I mumbled. It really was fine, in fact, I really wouldn't have minded at all if he hadn't put a shirt on.

"So," he said awkwardly, running a hand nervously though his hair.

"I'm sorry. I found out what really happened that night," I blurted out suddenly. I looked down, embarrassed. He had this effect on me, ever since I realized my feelings, and I just couldn't think straight. Regaining my composure, I proceeded to explain what I had found out from the Slytherins. "When I found out, I felt horrible," I added.

He stared at me blankly. "I—ah—I don't know what to say."

"It's alright if you can't forgive me, I don't blame you, I just want you to know—"

"Lily, no, it's fine. I forgive you. I just wasn't expecting that."

"You do?" I asked, hope seeping into my voice.

"Of course," he said, grinning sheepishly.

Not even thinking about it, I jumped up and wrapped my arms around him in a hug. He tensed underneath me, be soon relaxed, and enveloped me in his arms. And, despite my crush, I felt at ease with him again. It was a good feeling.

"I missed you," I mumbled into his chest, feeling strangely brave enough to say it. I was glad that he couldn't see my face; I was sure that a crimson blush had spread up my cheeks.

"I missed you too," he admitted quietly. I pulled away, and started to collect the things that had piled up around Remus's bed.

"What are you doing?" he asked me.

"Getting all your stuff. You're moving back in." I straightened up, a pile of his robes and a pair of humongous shoes in my arms. I nodded to the rest of the pile. "I'm not getting it all myself, you know," I grinned cheekily. He smiled back, bent down, and scooped a pile of books and a scarf in his arms.

We headed towards our dorms in companionable silence.

"Just dump it all on the floor," he instructed, after kicking open his door. "It'll end up there anyway."

I gave him a pained look, but obliged nonetheless. He left again, and I followed him, to get the last of his things in the dorm. There was only a shirt remaining, which I grabbed. He then reached behind the headboard of the bed, and grabbed his broom, pulling it out lovingly from behind the panel, caressing it gently. I wrinkled my nose.

"It's a piece of wood. With straw on the end," I said flatly.

"It's beautiful," he whispered dramatically. I snorted and grabbed his elbow to lead him out the door.

XX

We headed to dinner together, and it felt strange to be doing that again after the past two weeks of separation. And because of those past few weeks, I felt my heart speed up every time or hands brushed together, or when he said something particularly charming. I was falling for him fast, and it felt like heaven.

When we entered the Great Hall together, all the noise from people's chats stopped. Almost all of the students had heard about the row between the two Heads, and how it had split up the marauders as well as Sirius and Brittani. So they found it quite surprising to see us walking together voluntarily, and smiling and holding conversation. We ignored the questioning glances and whispers shielded behind hands, and walked on towards our end of the Gryffindor table. Brittani and Remus were sitting a few seats away from Sirius and Peter, but when we got to the table they all merged, each one just as astounded as the other.

"What are you doing with her?" Sirius exclaimed.

"Everything's ok. It was all just one big misunderstanding," James explained.

"And you forgave her that easily?" Sirius yelped loudly.

"Yep," James said simply.

"_Why?_"

James sighed and began to relay the story of what we had heard from the Death Eaters. We all sat inaudibly for a while until Remus broke the silence.

"I guess I owe you an apology, James," Remus said, looking ashamed.

"I as well," Brittani added guiltily.

"Forget about it," James said. Sirius raised his eyebrows at him, but James just shook his head silently.

Dinner started out a little awkward at first, but eventually things went back to the way they used to be. Except for Sirius. He didn't seem to be too keen to forgive me—not that I blamed him; I had behaved atrociously—but Brittani and Remus seemed to be back in his good graces by the end of the meal, so I reasoned that in time, I would be as well.

From that time on, things were back to the way they used to be; Brittani and Sirius were back together, the marauders united again, and James and I were just as good friends, if not better.

But a few things were different—it would be impossible to go through something like that unchanged.

Of course Sirius was still a little cool towards me, but that was completely justifiable. I had been horrible to him and his best friend.

And then there were my feelings for James. Over the next week, I wanted to swoon at every little thing he said or did. The little compliments that he subtly gave out that I hadn't noticed until now, the small acts of kindness that seemed to be just out of the blue, the way he laughed...Everything he did made me feel like a hopeless fangirl. I hadn't even told Brittani; I had no idea how she would react. And I wasn't so sure myself if it was just a little crush that had developed over his period of absence, or that maybe it would develop into something bigger. And I didn't even know if he felt anything towards me, for all I knew he could be interested in another girl; we didn't often talk about our love lives. I decided to give that time as well, and if after a week or two I still felt the same way, then maybe I could tell Brittani and find out his intentions. I just didn't want to jump right into anything.

And another thing that admittedly made me apprehensive was my previous relationship with Jacob, and my parents failing marriage. I didn't want anything like that to happen between James and me, and by not going out with him, I avoided that completely. But if I did, there was that possibility that something like that would happen, and I knew that a ruined relationship with us would hurt a lot more than it did with Jacob.

But there was a part of me that allowed myself to hope that maybe something would happen between us that would last a lifetime. Because spending a lifetime with someone that was as considerate and gentle as he, yet witty and lively at the same time, would be a dream come true.

XX 

After a round of studying with Remus, I was ready to collapse into bed. I could get a twenty minute nap in before rounds, and I had every intention of doing so. As I trudged back to my dorm, I heard running footsteps and I saw James running towards me, broom on his shoulder and shirt hanging loosely from his hand. I forced my eyes not to travel down his torso, and instead locked them with his. He caught up and fell into step with me, grinning lopsidedly.

"Great practice today," he said enthusiastically. "I know we can win the match next weekend."

"Not if you get sick. What were you thinking, not wearing a shirt in February?" I said.

He shrugged. "I got sweaty."

I wrinkled my nose. "I gathered that much," I replied playfully.

He chuckled. "Where are you coming from?" he asked.

"Studying in the library with Remus."

His face clouded over, and he looked slightly crestfallen, but after a second was back to normal.

I asked him how quidditch went, and the rest of the way back he tried to no avail to explain the game to me. I was just as confused, if not more, by the time we had gotten back to the dorms. I headed into my room, with every intention of falling onto my soft comforter for a power nap, when I saw a letter on the foot of it. I frowned; I usually didn't receive post from anyone during school. I looked at the script on the back, tall narrow and looping. It looked familiar, but I couldn't quite match it with a name. I slit the top open, and began to read.

_Ms. Evans,_

_Please come visit me in my office as soon as possible. You need not bring anyone or anything with you. _

_Thank you,_

_Albus Dumbledore _

_P.S. I do enjoy lemon drops._

The letter was completely out of the blue. I couldn't think of anything that I had done that would get me into so much trouble, or anything so monumental that would cause me to have to go to his office. I felt my heart rate speed up as I walked quickly towards his office. I delivered the password to the gargoyle, and as I headed up the spinning staircase I felt slightly nauseous, but I knew the bile rising in my throat had nothing to do with the revolving steps. I knocked lightly on the door once the stairs shuddered to a halt.

"Come in," Dumbledore said faintly.

I pushed open the thick mahogany door and stood awkwardly in the threshold.

"Do sit down," he said, nodding towards the chair in front of his desk. I settled on the end of it, feeling nervous.

"I trust you are well?" he inquired.

I nodded, even though I was not in the least.

He sighed, and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I hate to be the deliverer of bad news," he admitted, closing his electric blue eyes briefly. "But someone must have the job."

I sat on the edge of my chair, feeling paralyzed.

"Lily, I must regretfully inform you that your parents were murdered in their homes last night."


	23. Chapter 22

AN: Hi! Yes, I know it's been a while, but the last few weekends were crazy, and I normally write on the weekends, soooo I didn't have time.

You guys are still awesome:D loving-arizona, MayFairy, SpencerRiedFan89, gimarkley2013, rolfshuvakomail, anna0131, ellen, Loslote, court18294, lunerflower, DayDreaming0f y0u, and WritingDream!

Just a little…_note_ to someone: I honestly don't care that you don't like this story. But when you flame it, then I'm not too happy. So just don't read if you don't like it, I don't understand why you would read something you think is shallow, has plot holes, is crappy writing, whatever, and then take the time to review…? It's just pointless, in my opinion. So just stop reading and wasting your time, as well as mine.

Red

Chapter 22

Previously…

"_Do sit down," he said, nodding towards the chair in front of his desk. I settled on the end of it, feeling nervous._

"_I trust you are well?" he inquired._

_I nodded, even though I was not in the least._

_He sighed, and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I hate to be the deliverer of bad news," he admitted, closing his electric blue eyes briefly. "But someone must have the job."_

_I sat on the edge of my chair, feeling paralyzed._

"_Lily, I must regretfully inform you that your parents were murdered in their homes last night." _

XX

I opened my mouth, but no sound came out. I closed it, and bit on my lip to keep it from quivering. I felt tears spring to my eyes, and I blinked rapidly to get them away. I looked to my trembling hands that lay in my lap, and Dumbledore quietly continued.

"Would you like to hear what we know so far, or would you like to take some time and think before you know?"

"I'd like to know now, please," I replied quietly.

He sighed, and briefly pressed his temples with the tips of slender fingers. "A band of Death Eaters invaded their home. They were found dead the next morning and, no trace of how they were murdered was left, so we believe it was the killing curse."

"Do you know who it was?"

"Yes, I am afraid so. Regulus Black, Nathan Crowe, and Severus Snape."

The words cut like a knife—no, worse than a knife. They sliced a gash through my heart. My childhood friend, who had recently alleged to be on our side again, had murdered my parents. It seemed like the plotline for a terrible horror film.

Tears ran freely from my eyes now, and dripped off the end of my nose as I looked down. "Is that all?"

"That is all we know now, but I will inform you of any other information we get."

"Thank you, Professor," I said, although I was not thankful at all.

"I truly am sorry, Lily," he said, and I could tell he was completely sincere. But sometimes sorry wasn't enough to fix the situation. I nodded and forced a smile, although it probably came off as a grimace. I pushed myself off of the chair, and hurried out the door. After closing it gently, I continued down the staircase and down the hall, until I found the safety of a small alcove with a window overlooking the grounds. Then I allowed myself to break down.

I hid my face in my hands, shoulders shaking with heavy sobs. I sat there for God knows how long, the horrible truth cutting through me even deeper with every passing minute. They were dead, and my fried was the part of the cause? It was unreal.

I heard quick footsteps rapidly approaching, and my head snapped up. My hands quickly sprang to my cheeks to hastily wipe away salty tears. I saw a tall figure, illuminated slightly by the moon running towards me. I instinctively grabbed for my wand in my back pocket, but in my haste to leave for Dumbledore's office earlier I had left it in my dorm. He was close now, and I was able to see his features a little bit more clearly, but it was his voice that gave him away.

"Lily!" James called frantically, skidding to a halt in front of me. I felt embarrassed that he had found me crying on a windowsill, and my cheeks reddened even more when I realized that I had ditched him during rounds. "I was so worried about you, when you left and didn't come back—"

"I'm sorry James," I apologized sincerely. He took a long stride and enveloped me in a big hug, and I couldn't help but smile a little at the warm gesture, and I felt my heart speed up a bit.

"I'm just glad I found you," he murmured into my hair. I looked up and smiled at him, thinking how amazing it was that when my whole world was crashing down on me and he could still make me grin. He frowned suddenly and sat me down.

"Why were you crying?" he inquired sternly.

I gulped. "I got some news from Dumbledore."

"What?" he demanded, looking thoroughly concerned.

"My parents were murdered. By Severus, Regulus Black, and Nathan Crowe." Saying the words made my wound worse, and I began to cry again.

He didn't say anything for a while, merely sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Wow," he said finally.

I sniffed, and nodded, conjuring a tissue to blow my nose with. He sighed again. "Wow. That's just…wow."

"Yeah," I returned weakly.

"Snape…I mean…I never expected…that."

"I didn't either," I admitted.

"Merlin, Lils, I'm sorry."

"It's fine. It's not your fault."

"But I trusted him."

"I trusted him too, James, I was to accepting of him and I persuaded you to let him join. If it's anyone's fault, it's mine," I admitted.

"No, Lils, don't think like that—"

"It's true, James!"

"He could have killed them even if he wasn't on our side!"

That was true. But I still felt partially to blame. "Well," I sniffed "this does explain what they said earlier. They wanted to split us up and then tear us apart. They put the _imperius_ on you and then killed my parents. But we're on good terms again, so I guess their plan didn't work. Well, not completely, anyway. They still did a great deal of damage."

"But you have us," James murmured, pulling me into him. "You'll always have us."

I smiled through watery eyes. "Thanks James. It really means a lot to me. You really are my family, you always have been, and now you lot are all I've got."

"Let's get you back to bed, eh?" he asked, and without my consent, he swooped me into his arms, bridal style, and started back to our dorm.

"I am perfectly capable of walking myself, you know," I told him.

"I know," he replied simply, but did not let me down. I knew a lost cause when I saw one, and relented to just rest my head against his muscular chest, and I felt my eyes begin to droop as his footsteps fell into a steady, soothing pattern, and I drifted off to sleep in James Potter's arms.

XXX

The next morning I woke up to the sunlight streaming through my window, and I as I got up to go shower, I noticed that the ground was covered with a thick blanket of glistening white snow. My mom loved snow. She loved everything about winter, in general. And her birthday would have been in exactly two weeks.

Just thinking about them made my heart physically hurt, as unrealistic as that sounds, I felt it clench in my chest. I would have to find a way to keep my mind off them; otherwise I wouldn't be able to make it through this, despite the help of my friends. So I hurried through my shower, and decided to immerse myself in my studies to keep my mind off them. The best way to deal with the situation was to just try and forget about it, and not think about it at all. If I did, I knew that I would break down completely, and that would be very untimely. I wouldn't think about it until this war was over.

James walked out of the shower just as I was about to walk in, and he stopped for a minute, and looked me up and down.

"You alright?" he asked, concern evident in his voice.

"Yes," I said. It was only a partial lie.

"Do you want to tell the others?"

I nodded. They had the right to know. "We can after breakfast."

"Are you sure?"

I nodded. "Positive."

XXX

After we ate, I suggested we go to the Head's common room. The other three marauders and Brittani looked a little confused, but followed nonetheless. They all took spots on the couches and armchairs, Brittani sitting in Sirius's lap.

"So what's up?" Brittani asked.

I glanced at James before answering. "I got some news from Dumbledore last night."

Remus leaned forwards in his seat, and Peter frowned. "What kind of news?" he asked.

I took a deep breath and announced, "My parents were killed."

I relayed the rest that I had heard, but when I got to the part about whom the killers were, and admitted that Regulus was one of them, Sirius jumped off the couch, Brittani falling off of him, and stormed out of the dorm. Brittani got up to go chase after him, but I told her that I should do it, since it was my fault he was so fired up, anyway. She relented hesitantly, and I hurried off to pursue him. As I opened the door, I saw him rounding the corner straight ahead, and I broke into a run to catch him. I yelled his name, but it was no use; he only sped up. I increased my pace as well, and was finally able to grab his arm and spin him around to face me.

His face was red, dark grey eyes bright, and they had a murderous look in their depths. He looked furious.

"Let me talk to you," I offered calmly. He did nothing, just continued to stare at me, so I led him into an empty classroom; it was Saturday after all. We both sat down on top of the teacher's desk, side by side.

I took a deep breath. "It's not your fault."

"What isn't?"

"Oh, Come on, Sirius, you know what I'm talking about. Your brother. The way he turned out wasn't your fault."

He turned away, and remained silent.

"I felt the same way about Severus," I admitted. "I thought that maybe, if I had tried harder, I could have stopped him. But then I realized that I'm not responsible for his actions, and that sometimes some people are just beyond persuasion. A lost cause. And you just have to accept that and move on."

"But he was my own brother," he said.

"And Severus was just like a brother to me. But he went his way, and I went mine. You can't pick your family Sirius," I told him quietly.

"I know, but I could have changed him," he said desperately.

I shook my head. "There are some people that are just beyond our reach, beyond our help. We have to just let them go."

He nodded, and I thought I could have seen his eyes glistening with tears. I had never seen Sirius Black cry, and I don't think anyone else had either. I leaned over and hugged him, and we stayed that way for a while, just mulling over the thoughts swarming through our minds.


	24. Chapter 23

Hey everyone! So this is basically my Sunday the 20th update, and then I'll update again on the 27th!

Happy Thanksgiving, fellow Americans! I'm actually more excited for Black Friday. I like shopping much more than food. If you haven't figured out that I am a female yet, that is all the proof you need.

Anyway, thank you to you wonderful people: alicenotinwonderland, MayFairy, rolfshuvakomail, Loslote, sammiepop, and Daydreaming0f y0u. you keep the updates coming!

Red

Chapter 23

I slept the most of the next day. I think Brittani had slipped something in my pumpkin juice that morning, some kind of sleeping potion, because when I got back to the dorms I was out. I was actually grateful for it, because I needed the sleep after staying up with Sirius and then my thoughts the previous night. And it provided a great distraction. I dozed until four that afternoon, when I decided to get up and shower. As I rifled through my dresser for a pair of sweats, I saw my favorite picture of my parents. And as I walked past the window, the snow made me think of my mum and her love for the winter, just like it had yesterday. My soap was the exact same scent that my mum used, and the shirt that I pulled over my head my dad had gotten for me the last summer. The book I picked up to divert my thoughts was my father's favorite. Every little thing brought memories flooding back to me, and it was like salt to the wound. I sniffled and wiped away a tear that had slid down my cheek as I turned the page of the novel. By trying to make my thoughts stray from recollections of my parents, it only made me think of them more. There was nothing I could do to escape it.

I huffed after I blew my nose, cross at how much I had been crying lately. My eyes were starting to get very irritated. I wasn't one to cry, in fact I prided myself in hardly crying at all. But yet it seemed like I was bawling my eyes out all the time. I didn't like feeling so…helpless. As I was setting my book down and heading over to our kitchenette to get a cup of tea, the door opened, and James stepped in.

"Hey," I said, my back to him as I filled the kettle.

"Hey."

I heated it with a charm, and waited for a while until it began to whistle shrilly.

"You want a cup?" I asked him, as I poured the steaming water into a mug for myself.

"Yeah, thanks."

I brought him a cup as I sat down next to him, curling my legs up underneath me.

"You've been crying."

I shrugged. I didn't know why he had to point it out, and frankly I wished he hadn't. He moved over and sat beside me, draping an arm around my shoulders.

"I'm sorry," he said sincerely.

I felt my anger wash away. He really had good intentions. I grinned a little; I never could stay angry at him for long.

"I know. I'm just trying to get over this as soon as I can, but that's harder that I thought. Everything reminds me of them."

He sighed. "It'll take time. You can't just get over it overnight."

"I wish I could."

He smiled. "I know something that might help," he said, setting his empty cup down.

I felt my lips twitch. "I don't know if this is a good idea."

"You don't even know what it is yet!" James laughed, as he got up and bounded into his room. He emerged with a lopsided grin on his face, holding his broom.

"Oh no. James Potter, you put that back in your room right now," I told him sternly.

"I have no intention of doing anything of the sort," he smirked, sauntering slowly over towards me. I felt my stomach clench as he came to a halt in front of the couch that I was cowering in. In on swift, quick movement, he swooped me into his arms and had me laying over his shoulder.

"POTTER!" I yelled, pounding on his back with my fists. "put me down NOW!"

I felt him chuckle, and he carried through the dorm door and out through the Gryffindor common room. I felt my face flush partially because all the blood in my body was rushing to my head, and also because of the odd looks students shot our way. I groaned and hung limply, realizing that there was no use in trying to escape.

We were outside in no time, the cool March breeze whipping my hair all around. He passed the pitch with long strides, and entered the forbidden forest instead.

"If I let you down, will you promise not to run away?" he asked.

I didn't know the way out from here, we had gone in so deep that you couldn't see where the trees cleared. I was also admittedly a little curious as to where he would take me.

"Promise," I agreed.

He gently placed me on my feet again, and I followed him, faithful to my promise, through the tangled branches. Last fall's leaves crunched and twigs snapped loudly under our feet as we tramped through the forest. Out of nowhere, there sat a large clearing.

It was like an oasis. A decent sized lake, surrounded by evergreens and complete with a dock and sandy shore was the centerpiece. Tall grass swayed in the wind around the water, colorful wildflowers dotting the vast expanse. There was small assemblage of rocks towards the edge of all this, forming what looked like a cave.

"Wow," I breathed. "How did you ever find this?"

James shrugged. "I think it was third year, we stumbled upon it. It didn't look like this at first; we added the dock, rocks, and sand. But the rest of it has been there for quite a while, I think."

I nodded faintly, still taking in the beauty.

"You ready?" he asked. Looking over, I saw that he had already straddled his broom, leaving enough room at the tail end for me to sit on.

"Not really," I admitted honestly.

"Well, get on then," he smiled. I hesitantly stepped over, feeling quite unsure of myself.

"What do I do?" I asked, looking at the broom with apprehension.

"Just swing your leg over," he instructed. I did so, and was now sitting on it awkwardly with my feet firmly planted on the broom. "You're going to want to hold on to me," he added.

"I know," I said and wrapped my arms around the tightened muscles of his torso. I felt my stomach squirm at the close contact, and I blushed from behind his back.

"Ready?" He asked.

"No," I replied in a small voice."

"Let's go!" he yelled and kicked off suddenly. I yelped as we sped off into the sky at breakneck speed. He let out a big whoop, and spiraled through the sky, the broom revolving round and round as I squeezed my arms around him even tighter. He laughed loudly, and took off in a dive, flying perfectly perpendicular to the ground, gathering speed rapidly. I felt my breathing speed up when we were right above the pond and he still hadn't pulled out of the dive.

"JAMES!" I screamed into his ear. He only sped up faster, and right as I began to hold my breath because I was sure he would dunk us in the freezing water, he pulled out sharply, so that my feet just barely skimmed the surface. He started to gain height again, and spiraled around a tall pine tree, then went out of the clearing and above the forest, until we were looking down onto the grounds. He started towards the castle, steering us around all the towers, slowing down as we neared what I knew was McGonagall's.

He halted right in front of the window, rapped on it, and yelled "Hi, Minnie!"

I saw a look of horror come over her face, and just as she started to stand up he sped off again, laughing loudly.

I groaned. "We're going to be in soooo much trouble," I winced as I faintly heard her scream, "POTTER!"

We continued around the castle, until he came to a stop again outside what I recognized to be our dorm, pulled out his wand, and blasted the window open.

"Go on in," He told me, pulling in a little closer.

I looked down apprehensively at the kilometers below us. "You're crazy," I muttered as I stepped on the sill and into the room. He pulled up and got out as well.

"Did that help?" he asked, running his hand through his hair, making it even more windswept.

I grinned. "I think it did."

AN: Yeah, kind of short and filler-ish, I know, but there will be a longer update on Sunday.


	25. Chapter 24

AN: Hello again!

**Alright, we're already getting towards the end of this thing so I'm already going to start planning the epilogue, and YOU get to decide what happens! **_**PM or REVIEW with either**_: A-James's marriage proposal and wedding, B-the last few moments before their death, C-both A and B, or D-no epilogue. **I'm also open to any other suggestions not mentioned above, additions or elaborations! Just let me know!** Thanks for your help!

Thanks to my reviewers: MayFairy, DayDreaming0f y0u, percysis16, tresamigas, and rolfshuvakomail, Roseflower94, summerfull21, FairoNeko, and .andLily! Where are the rest of you? I know you're there!

Red

Chapter 24

I found myself standing outside Dumbledore's office, once again, waiting nervously for him to open the door. He soon opened it, and invited me inside.

"Do sit down. I have a few things I would like to say."

"Thank you, Professor."

"Your parents' funeral is this weekend. Would you like to go?"

"Yes," I told him decidedly.

"I would have a portkey available to take you there and back. Seeing as it can be very dangerous outside of these walls these days, I would suggest bringing someone from Hogwarts with you."

"Of course."

"Finally, we have a lead on where the three are hiding. The ministry is going to send out some aurors as soon as we are sure where they are."

I forced a smile. "That's great," I said weakly.

He paused, and looked at me intently. "Miss Evans, are you holding up alright?"

"Yes, thank you," I lied, trying to sound as polite as possible.

"I'm glad to hear it. Losing loved ones is one of the hardest things to go through in life."

I nodded.

"I'll let you go, I'm sure you have much studying to do with NEWTS approaching."

"Yes, professor. Thank you."

XXX

"Brittani, would you be able to do me a favor?" I asked her, as we sat in the library.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"I wanted to go to my parents funeral, and Dumbledore wanted me to go with someone because it's not the safest place out there and…"

"Of course! When is it?"

"This weekend."

Brittani cringed. "Shoot. Shoot shoot shoot. I have this huge family reunion this weekend, and it carries through Easter break the next week and I can't get out of it because I'll be in charge of all my brothers and…Merlin, I'm so sorry."

"No, its fine; I'll just ask one of the boys."

"Ask Sirius," she advised. "I'm sure he'd go with you."

"No, you should take home to meet your parents," I insisted with a grin.

Brittani grinned. "I will. We're really getting serious, and they've been quite anxious to meet him. Remus, Pete or James then; either would go with you."

I smiled a little. "Yeah. I'll ask one of them." By one of them, I meant James. I hadn't told Brittani about my feelings for him yet, although I had a feeling that maybe it was a little more than a short infatuation. I still didn't want to tell her yet, until I was completely sure.

"One of who?" a voice asked from behind me. Turning around, I saw that is was none other than the man who was currently occupying my thoughts.

"Uh," I articulated eloquently.

"One of you four," Brittani covered for me, even slapping a smile on her face for the full effect.

"Oh really? Just talking about how amazing we are, eh?" He asked, sliding into a chair next to me. I felt his pant leg brush my knee as he sat down.

"Of course," Brittani grinned.

"Actually," I began, trying to summon my courage. "My parents funeral is this weekend, and he suggested that seeing as things are as dangerous as they are, I go with someone. Would you mind going with me?"

"Yeah—I mean, no I wouldn't mind. Yes," he laughed, running a hand through his hair.

I smiled gratefully. "Thanks, James."

"Don't mention it," he replied.

I saw Brittani smirk widely at me, looking back and forth between James and me. She raised a knowing eyebrow, and I looked down uncomfortably, silently praying that I wasn't blushing—although I probably was.

"Wellp, I have practice to get to, so you two have, er, fun!" Brittani bubbled, and hurriedly swept her things up and started to rush out of the library.

"We don't have practice until six!" James yelled after her.

"Oh! Right! Well, I still have to—Sirius, you know, just wanted to—okay bye!" she cried as she dashed out of the room. James chuckled.

"Are you sure you don't mind going with me this weekend?" I asked him, feeling guilty for taking away his holiday.

He grinned reassuringly. "Positive."

XXX

The next weekend passed swiftly, full of the usual quizzes and exams. The professors seemed to realize that we only had a bit of the year left until we were out, and were cramming material in as quickly as they could. We had an Order meeting, which James and Remus mostly took control of. They mostly talked about what would happen to the Order once we graduated (Dumbledore would spread it to the older generations that had graduated previously and include us as well, and we were going to hand pick some sixth years to take over at Hogwarts), what had happened to my parents, and explained the reason for Severus's absence. I considered leaving when the subject of my parents' deaths came up; I felt tears start to prick at the corners of my eyes. But when they brought up my childhood friend I left. Remus gave me a worried look as I quietly slipped out the door, and I forced back a reassuring smile.

Saturday finally came, the day of the funeral. I felt a little queasy, and seeing the multiple photos of my parents scattered around my dorm didn't help. I dressed in a simple black dress, that was fitted but not too tight, conservative but still fashionable, and added a necklace and black heels. I curled my hair into loose waves with my wand, and applied a little bit of makeup. Satisfied with my appearance, I walked into our common room to wait for James.

He was already there, sitting on the edge of the loveseat with his head resting in his hands. I tentatively walked over in front of him. He quickly jumped up, and looked at me up and down slowly until his eyes jumped to my face guiltily. I could've sworn that his cheeks were tinted pink.

"You look great," he said somewhat breathlessly.

I smiled. "Thanks, you do too." He really did, with his muggle dress pants shirt, and jacket. It looked like he had even tried to tame his usually wild black locks.

"Dumbledore dropped this off earlier, he said that we can return it to him when we get back," James said, pointing to an old butterbeer bottle that I assumed was the portkey. "You ready?" he asked. I nodded shakily, and raised a timid hand to touch it just as he did. When my fingers contacted the cool glass, I felt the ground slip out from underneath and went through a series of strange feelings as we travelled. My feet contacted solid ground rather roughly, and I instinctively grabbed onto James for support.

"Sorry," I muttered, releasing his arm almost as quickly as I had grabbed it. He grinned reassuringly at me, and we headed towards the church where the service would be at before the burial at the neighboring cemetery. We had apparated to a dark, barren alley that was a few blocks away from the church. We walked along together, my stomach churning again. It would be open casket, and the thought of seeing my parents…_dead_…really scared me. But I decided that after the funeral, I would leave this all behind and not mourn and mope any longer. As much as I didn't want to see them, I knew it would bring closure to this whole ordeal.

James seemed to notice that I was very tense, and offered me a smile. "Don't worry. I'll be right here with you."

I wrapped an arm around him in a grateful hug, and only reluctantly removed it when we reached the church doors. He pushed them open and let me in graciously.

My eyes scanned the room, taking in all the familiar faces of family friends, relatives, and my parents colleagues. They, being muggles, were under the impression that my parents had been killed in a car crash, not really knowing the truth. Most of them greeted me, and I introduced James as my friend from school. Some of the women raised speculative eyebrows, but I quickly stifled their suspicions with a small shake of the head. They didn't look too convinced. I got a very cold hello from Petunia, and nothing more. She attended to everyone there with icy civility, all the while holding onto her boyfriend Vernon's arm with her nose stuck up in the air. James eyed her with great distasted, and after she had come over to us for a few brief seconds, I sensed his anger.

"Who does she think she is! You're her _sister_ and all she has to say is a—"

"James," I hissed. "It's fine. Really."

He gave me a look that expressed that he believed it was all but fine, but said no more on the subject nonetheless.

The service started shortly after. The pastor was one of my father's closest friends, and I was glad that it wasn't a cold, insincere stranger. The words he delivered were true and touching, and I could feel tears start to run down my face again as he delved into their lives. James was listening with interest beside me. The visitation started afterwards. I was too far away, at first, too see the casket. But surrounding it I could see pictures, flowers, and a book where people were writing their memories and reflections. I felt my feet begin to move, without command, towards my mum's casket. I stopped abruptly upon seeing its contents.

My mum was lying there, clothed in her favorite dress and string of pearls. Her hair was done up and her makeup carefully applied. They had closed her eyelids, and for that I was grateful, for I knew that if they hadn't I would have completely broken down. Instead only a few salty tears slipped down my face.

I felt very alone, all of a sudden. Very alone. Like they had just left me to wander around this world on my own, face my trials by myself, and celebrate my successes solitarily.

That was, until I felt someone walk up beside me and put their arm around my waist. I didn't need to look to know that it was James.

I stood there for a few more moments, relishing the last few moments with my mother, knowing that this was the last time I would ever see her, until heading over to my father's casket. James was still supportively at my side.

AN: So I know that realistically, there wouldn't be an open casket if her parents hadn't died in a car crash because the body would be so…mangled. But I wanted their deaths to seem so innocent, without murder or suicide, so the family and friends wouldn't suspect a thing. So sorry about the stretch there.


	26. Chapter 25

AN: Thanks to my lovely reviewers: Roseflower94, HQ-QI, MayFairy, PoohBearGoesGangster, alicenotinwonderland, DayDreaming0f y0u, lazyball, AA, rolfshuvakomail, combatqueen, ., breezey03, and FreeElfDobby!

I have made a decision on the epilogue, but you will just have to wait and see. Ooh, aren't I evil.

Story stats time! Words: 46,262, Chapters: 25, Reviews: 222, Hits: 28,969, Communities: 1, Favorites: 79, Alerts: 121

Red

Chapter 25

After the funeral I had decided that I was done. I had cried my last tears, finished mourning, and when I would look upon their pictures not it would not bring about sadness, but affection. I was ready to move on.

It was Easter Break and I was sad to say that I was spending it at Hogwarts. Brittani had offered to bring me to her family reunion, but I didn't want to intrude so I regretfully declined. Remus had offered me to stay with him and his mum, but that I also felt liable to turn down his generous offer. And, of course, James had offered as well but I figured I had already taken up too much of his time.

I was the only Gryffindor seventh year that had stayed at school, so taking advantage of the lack of action I passed most of my time reviewing for NEWTs. I took a few walks around the grounds, tying not to think about how this would be one of the last few times I could. The whole week was rather uneventful, really, and I was glad when the students were back and the castle was full of life again. My friends greeted me with vigor, and I could tell they were anxious about my wellbeing after being left alone after the funeral for a week. I could tell they were relieved when they saw that I was back to my normal self again.

A day after everyone was back, Dumbledore called me to his office. He informed me that Regulus and Snape had only a month to serve in Azkaban, but the other one involved was found to be the one who did the actual killing; Regulus and Snape had just gone along with him. They still were punished, but since there was no actual proof that they were Death Eaters, a month was all they were allotted for skipping school and the like. When I told the others, they were all outraged—especially Sirius and James. We all knew that they had gotten off easy. But there was nothing that I could do, so I let it go.

The rest of March passed quickly, nothing remarkably interesting had happened, only two order meetings. Rounds were quite uneventful. It seemed like most of my time was consumed of studying for NEWTs.

During the first week of April, I finally decided to tell Brittani about my feelings for James. I admitted it with a light blush on my cheeks, and my voice sounded much higher than usual.

She stared at me blankly. "And…?" she asked.

My eyebrows shot up. I was astonished at the nonchalant answer.

She laughed. "Oh, come off it Lily. You didn't think I was clueless, did you?"

"I-I-well, I didn't—" I spluttered.

"I'm not blind; I can see the way you look at him, the way you act, the way your eyes light up when he enters the room!"

I gaped at her, and I was positive I resembled some kind of a goldfish.

"And he does the same for you, you know," she grinned cheekily.

I felt my cheeks turn crimson, and my heart beat two times as fast when I heard her say this. I hadn't thought that James had any real feelings for me; he hadn't asked me out for a whole year now. I thought he had no intention of being anything more than friends, but now I felt a bit of hope bosom within my chest.

"See, you're grinning like an idiot just thinking about him," Brittani pointed out.

I smiled embarrassedly. "I wouldn't say _idiot_, but—"

"Okay, love sick puppy works."

We laughed together for a while, only like two best friends could, and talked about two certain marauders until I had to leave for rounds.

I waited around for James for a while; we never left without each other. I took to staring out the window absently. I realized with a start that the moon was completely full, which meant that the marauders were out tonight, and James had forgotten to tell me. I knew that he wouldn't be coming tonight, so I set off by myself.

The whole night was rather dull, until I was on the final stretch and had about fifteen minutes left. I rounded a corner, and ran into something very solid. My eyebrows creased, and as my hand reached out without instruction to do so, I felt a thin silky substance brush against my fingertips. I clenched it in my fist, and pulled down gently.

The tall, lanky figure of James Potter stood before me, his shirt halfway buttoned and tie undone and hanging loosely around his neck. His disheveled appearance was due to helping Remus, no doubt. I felt my breath hitch in my throat, and I felt very dizzy all of a sudden. The right corner of his lip twitched, and when he finally spoke his words were barely above a whisper.

"Miss Evans, maybe you should watch where you're going more closely from now on," he breathed.

I let out a strangled noise from the back of my throat as I looked up into his eyes. We were so close, I could feel heat radiating off him. The distance between us was closing, and his lips were so close to mine that they brushed against them gently. I was dying for him to kiss me, every part of me seemed to be screaming at him to just snog me already.

But he quickly swept past me, without so much as a backwards glance. I watched him go with a sinking heart, all the feelings I had just experienced vanished. If he really liked me like Brittani had suspected, would he have walked away like that? No. So, why did he?

I reluctantly concluded that me just must have been indifferent, is all, and I watched his disappear with a my hopes thrown away.

XX

The next day he acted like nothing had happened. That assured me of his indifference. I felt so stupid, letting myself fall for him. I wasn't one of those lovesick girls who was so in love that they were blind to the one they fancied. He sat next to me in DADA, with Sirius on the other side. Usually it was Remus who was next to me, but he was still in the Hospital Wing.

I took notes absent mindedly, not able to focus at all on our professor or the book in front of me, but the messy haired boy sitting next to me. He hadn't spared me a single glance the whole period. Stifling a sigh, I raised my quill to my notes again when I noticed that all the words I had written down earlier were gone and new ones were in their place.

_Hello, love._

I recognized the handwriting as Sirius's. I looked over at him questioningly, and he just raised his eyebrows and nodded at the paper; wordlessly asking me to reply.

**Do you need something?** I wrote back.

_What happened between you and Prongs last night? He hasn't been the same since._

**Nothing happened.**

_Come off it, Evans. I saw your dots almost right on top of each other on the Map!_

I knew there was no fooling Sirius.

**Honestly, nothing happened. I ran into him, he ran away, and has been seamlessly avoiding me ever since. **

_Ahh, young love…don't worry, Lils. He'll come around. You just threw him into shock is all._

**Young love? Please.**

_You have no idea how much in love he is in with you. Head over heels. And you too, I can tell. I'm pretty good at these kinds of things, you know._

**Is it really that obvious?**

_You'd be surprised! I'm just saying, don't give up quite yet. I have a feeling He'll come around._

And with that, the class ended. Sirius stood up and gave me a wink, and nudged me gently towards James. I shook my head stubbornly, and hurried into the crowded hallway, teeming with students and distractions. __

AN: So…next chapter is the last. It will be up on Christmas Day! I'd like to say that I planned it to be like that since the first day I updated, but sadly I can't. Epilogue will be up sometime next week, probably earlier than Sunday.


	27. Chapter 26

AN: Here it is! _**Last chapter.**_ As I said earlier, epilogue will be up this week along with a verrrrry long AN. But this is the last legit chapter., so reviews would be appreciated ;D even if you haven't reviewed before it's not too late….

Thanks to all of my reviewerssss: ., NewObsessionxoxo, MayFairy, headupinclouds, marinewife08, AllieOfGreenGables (I just suck at making up character names, so I substitute authors or people I know instead =/), EnchantedWords17, and DayDreaming0f y0u! *cyber hugs*

Red

Chpter26

To no one's surprise, Gryffindor absolutely destroyed Huffelpuff and took the cup for the fourth year in row. And, because Gryffindors were…well, Gryffindors, we had to have a raucous party, despite the fact that NEWTs were only two days away. Against my better judgment, I joined in the celebration. As usual, the marauders nicked some firewhiskey and butterbeer from who knows where. Peter was busy setting up muggle speakers and blasting music from them, Sirius was dancing not very…_appropriately_ with Brittani, Remus trying awkwardly to fend off a swooning girl, and James talking through a play by play with the keeper.

The party went on for a few hours. I flitted around with various groups of people; Brittani was glued to Sirius's hip—or, rather, his lips but we usually braved the night together. I danced with a few guys, but I couldn't help but hope that they were James. He had been surrounded by his groupies and teammates the whole night. But as the wasted students passed out, drifted off to bed, or left giggling with a boyfriend, girlfriend, or anyone who would do, the number of people in the room decreased significantly. Only about fifteen were left, and James was standing alone, staring into a half empty bottle of firewhiskey, although he looked completely sober. I walked up to him cautiously; he had still been acting strangely after we ran into each other in the hallway during rounds.

His head snapped up and I saw a strange look in his eyes—longing, yearning, for something. I greeted him with a hesitant smile.

"You had a great game today, James," I congratulated him.

"Thanks, Lil," he said sincerely. "Do you—do you want to go for walk with me?" he asked boldly, setting his drink down.

I nodded, "I'd love to," I croaked.

We fell into step together, although he remained silent. I wasn't sure if I should strike up conversation, but he had such a concentrated, determined look on his face that I decided it would be best not to bother him. We had made it to the front doors which he pushed open, despite the fact that if we were caught we would be in quite a lot of trouble. But with only a few days left of tour Hogwarts career, that didn't matter. We walked through the cool, already dewy grass until we got to the lake. I followed him to the edge of the dock, where he sat down, pulled off his shoes and dangled his feet in the water. I did the same.

I heard him take a deep breath from beside me. "Well," he began "I haven't done this in a while, so I might be a little rusty…But…Lily Evans, will you go out with me?" I watched him as he spoke, hanging onto every word. When he finished his eyes were brimming with hope.

I could not believe what he had just said.

My first impulse was to scream 'YES!' and snog him until there was no tomorrow, but then I thought about something.

It seemed like all the relationships that I had either experience or watched others experience, hadn't ended well. My parents' marriage would have ended in divorce, if given a chance. All my serious relationships had ended badly. Additionally, with two people that were so emotional and strong in beliefs and opinions as we are, we were bound to fight if we were together. There were million ways I imagined myself getting hurt.

But in love, what use is your head? What use is logic? Love is for the heart, not for the mind. And my heart was yearning to give us go.

So I yelped "Yes!" and then his lips were pressed on mine.

In that moment while we were sitting on the dock, lips moving blissfully together in sync, I realized something. Despite the growing fear of Lord Voldemort, the pressure of NEWTs, the fear of going into the real world in only a few days, the sadness of leaving my home, family, and safety I found at Hogwarts, I felt completely at ease. As my feet moved in small circles in the cool water lit up by the moonlight, and we finally pulled away from the kiss, I knew that James was all I needed.


	28. Epilogue & AN

AN: Sorry, WillowBee for not mentioning you in my list of reviewers! I checked my email right after I updated so I didn't see your review until it was already published =/

You all are lovely: WillowBee, MayFairy, rolfshuvakomail, CakeLover,WritingDream, ., DayDreaming0f y0u, Jaisler, Book-Mania-Girl520 (The books never specified when in their seventh year they finally got together so that isn't cannon provided fact. I didn't have anything to write for either of their birthdays honestly. I had something for Lily but then scratched it out because it was right after Christmas break break and didn't fit in well in the story, so since I didn't write on hers I thought it would be odd to write on James's. I do understand where you're coming from, though. Kind of.), and Loslote

Stay tuned for a very long AN which I will most likely ramble incessantly in.

Red

Epilogue

The morning of September thirty-first in seventy nine promised a beautiful day to come. The fall air was crisp and cool, but as the Sun's rays began to rise over the horizon and bathe the world with its warm light, the chilly air began to ebb away. The world seemed to be at peace, completely still, save for a rusty leaf drifting to the ground. This day was a very important one for James Potter and Lily Evans.

Why? They were to be married of course, at one o'clock that afternoon.

The morning was spent in last minute preparations, additions, and eager anticipation. The bridesmaids were busy fussing over each other's hair and makeup, but paying the most attention to the bride. Lily was glowing in her dress. It was simple, but complemented her slim figure perfectly. Her hair had been done in loose curls that cascaded down her back in auburn waves. Her makeup was simple and natural, using brown shadows and peachy tones on the lips and cheeks. A light coat of mascara made her electric eyes pop, and thin eyeliner enlarged their size even more.

James was in his room that he had shared with the groomsmen, his tuxedo only partially on, glasses laying carelessly on the table, and head in his hands. "I'm getting married…I'm getting married…I can't believe it…" he muttered into his palms. "It's alright," his best man, Sirius consoled him. "It happens to the best of us." He himself was engaged to the maid of honor, and were to be wed in a few months' time. James began pacing and it wasn't until Sirius and Peter dragged him out the door that he stopped.

The guest list had been somewhat short, and the venue had not been decorated too extravagantly, but the couple would not have had it any other way. It was outside, underneath the canopy of tall oak trees. There were bouquets of flowers all over, full of flowers that complemented the crimson, ginger, and yellow leaves. The bridesmaids wore cream knee length dresses with a deep red sash. The groomsmen's ties matched their sashes, and the party all looked their best. James stood waiting for his bride with a big smile stretched across his face. The violinist began to play Mendelsohn's wedding march, and all the heads turned around to see Lily.

She was hanging on to Remus's arm; she had asked him to walk her down the aisle almost immediately after James proposed, since her own father had passed away. He was honored, and had agreed to accompany her immediately. James's smile grew even wider, if possible. The ladies whispered to each other about how beautiful she looked in her dress. Remus stopped before the altar, gave her brief kiss on the cheek, and whispered a few words of encouragement in her ear before heading over to the other groomsmen.

The reverend began the ceremony, inwardly feeling glad that he was doing Lily's wedding right after her parents funeral, and happy for the change of mood. He was glad that she had been able to find happiness after their deaths. When he finally uttered the words "You may kiss the bride" James dove in and locked lips with his bride. She smiled into it, as did he, enjoying the cheers from their guests—the loudest of which was, unsurprisingly, from Sirius.

They rushed to take pictures, none of the smiles having to be forced but from genuine happiness. They danced the reception away, and couldn't be happier despite the blisters covering their feet from dancing in such uncomfortable shoes.

It was understandably the best day of Lily Evans—excuse me, Potter—and James Potter's lives, and promised a wonderful married life to come. They were, quite simply, perfect for each other.

AN: Get ready, because this is going to be long!

So yes, I decided to do the wedding. I know some people wanted their death, but it just didn't come out right, and I wanted this to have a happy ending after all the terrible things that had gone on. And sorry if it wasn't perfect, it didn't feel completely right—especially the ending—but it was the best I could do. So please don't complain.

Moving on, there are quite a few 'thank you's that are due! To anyone who has alerted, favorited, or reviewed, and stuck with me to the end, thank you _so_ much. You really mean the world to me, and are the reason that I'm still writing this. I'd like to thank some specific people who have reviewed quite a few times (but not quite regularly) and given great support and encouragement, in no particular order: PaNaMo, alicenotinwonderland, ., Breezey03, Roseflower94, horseislove, TalonsandTeaLeaves, Nanabug, ShootinStar, In Love With Prongs, TWHATT18, AllieofGreenGables, and WillowBee. These next three people have reviewed almost every chapter, and have been a source of constant support: rolfshuvakomail, Loslote, and DayDreaming0f y0u and lastly, MayFairy has reviewed EVERY CHAPTER since the first. Thank you so much for taking the time to write great reviews every chapter! Sorry if I left you out in any of these categories, it's hard to determine who has reviewed more than who and whatnot. But again, thank you to every one of you who has supported by reading and/or reviewing

My next story is going to be less than ten chapters, and a series of letters between James and Lily over break. It's going to be humorous (I will try, but I'm no comedian) and I'm really excited for it! I'll try and get the first chapter up in about month, I'd like to have a few already written before I publish and take a little break from fanfiction before I start. Add me to your author alert if you think you might enjoy it!

This is really the end; you can take this off your alerts list. I've really enjoyed writing this, I feel like it's one of my best. Sure now that I look back there are things I'd like to improve, but I think it turned out alright.

I'd love to hear your last thoughts; this will be your last chance to review so if you haven't give it a go! If you have any questions, let me know and I'll get back to you.

Again, thank you all so much. I'll miss you all along with this story!

XX


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